diff --git a/src/backend.solr.js b/src/backend.solr.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fae6d353
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend.solr.js
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+this.recline = this.recline || {};
+this.recline.Backend = this.recline.Backend || {};
+this.recline.Backend.Solr = this.recline.Backend.Solr || {};
+
+(function($, my) {
+  my.__type__ = 'solr';
+
+  // ### fetch
+  //
+  // dataset must have a solr or url attribute pointing to solr endpoint
+  my.fetch = function(dataset) {
+    var jqxhr = $.ajax({
+      url: dataset.solr || dataset.url,
+      data: {
+        rows: 1,
+        wt: 'json'
+      },
+      dataType: 'jsonp',
+      jsonp: 'json.wrf'
+    });
+    var dfd = $.Deferred();
+    jqxhr.done(function(results) {
+      // if we get 0 results we cannot get fields
+      var fields = []
+      if (results.response.numFound > 0) {
+        fields =  _.map(_.keys(results.response.docs[0]), function(fieldName) {
+          return { id: fieldName };
+        });
+      }
+      var out = {
+        fields: fields,
+        useMemoryStore: false
+      };
+      dfd.resolve(out);
+    });
+    return dfd.promise();
+  }
+
+  // TODO - much work on proper query support is needed!!
+  my.query = function(queryObj, dataset) {
+    var q = queryObj.q || '*:*';
+    var data = {
+      q: q,
+      rows: queryObj.size,
+      start: queryObj.from,
+      wt: 'json'
+    };
+    var jqxhr = $.ajax({
+      url: dataset.solr || dataset.url,
+      data: data,
+      dataType: 'jsonp',
+      jsonp: 'json.wrf'
+    });
+    var dfd = $.Deferred();
+    jqxhr.done(function(results) {
+      var out = {
+        total: results.response.numFound,
+        hits: results.response.docs
+      };
+      dfd.resolve(out);  
+    });
+    return dfd.promise();
+  };
+
+}(jQuery, this.recline.Backend.Solr));
diff --git a/test/backend.solr.test.js b/test/backend.solr.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2b7ec65a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/backend.solr.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+(function ($) {
+module("Backend SOLR");
+
+test("fetch", function() { 
+  var dataset = new recline.Model.Dataset({
+    url: 'http://openspending.org/api/search',
+    backend: 'solr'
+  });
+  // stop();
+
+  var stub = sinon.stub($, 'ajax', function(options) {
+    return {
+      done: function(callback) {
+        callback(sample_data);
+        return this;
+      },
+      fail: function() {
+      }
+    };
+  });
+
+  dataset.fetch().done(function(dataset) {
+    var exp = [
+      "_id",
+      "amount",
+      "category.label_facet",
+      "dataset",
+      "from.label_facet",
+      "id",
+      "subcategory.label_facet",
+      "time.label_facet",
+      "to.label_facet"
+    ];
+    deepEqual(
+      exp,
+      _.pluck(dataset.fields.toJSON(), 'id')
+    );
+    // check we've mapped types correctly
+    equal(dataset.fields.get('amount').get('type'), 'string');
+
+    // fetch does a query so we can check for records
+    equal(dataset.recordCount, 10342132);
+    equal(dataset.records.length, 2);
+    equal(dataset.records.at(0).get('id'), '3e3e25d7737634127b76d5ee4a7df280987013c7');
+    // start();
+  });
+  $.ajax.restore();
+});
+
+var sample_data = {
+  "response": {
+    "docs": [
+      {
+        "_id": "south-african-national-gov-budget-2012-13::3e3e25d7737634127b76d5ee4a7df280987013c7", 
+        "amount": 30905738200000.0, 
+        "category.label_facet": "General public services", 
+        "dataset": "south-african-national-gov-budget-2012-13", 
+        "from.label_facet": "National Treasury", 
+        "id": "3e3e25d7737634127b76d5ee4a7df280987013c7", 
+        "subcategory.label_facet": "Transfers of a general character between different levels of government", 
+        "time.label_facet": "01. April 2012", 
+        "to.label_facet": "Provincial Equitable Share"
+      }, 
+      {
+        "_id": "south-african-national-gov-budget-2012-13::738849e28e6b3c45e5b0001e142b51479b3a3e41", 
+        "amount": 8938807300000.0, 
+        "category.label_facet": "General public services", 
+        "dataset": "south-african-national-gov-budget-2012-13", 
+        "from.label_facet": "National Treasury", 
+        "id": "738849e28e6b3c45e5b0001e142b51479b3a3e41", 
+        "subcategory.label_facet": "Public debt transactions", 
+        "time.label_facet": "01. April 2012", 
+        "to.label_facet": "State Debt Costs"
+      }
+    ], 
+    "numFound": 10342132, 
+    "start": 0
+  }, 
+  "responseHeader": {
+    "QTime": 578, 
+    "status": 0
+  }
+};
+
+})(this.jQuery);
diff --git a/test/index.html b/test/index.html
index 8830b603..e1168150 100644
--- a/test/index.html
+++ b/test/index.html
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
   <script type="text/javascript" src="../src/backend.elasticsearch.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="../src/backend.csv.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="../src/backend.ckan.js"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="../src/backend.solr.js"></script>
 
   <script type="text/javascript" src="model.test.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="backend.memory.test.js"></script>
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@
   <script type="text/javascript" src="backend.elasticsearch.test.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="backend.csv.test.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="backend.ckan.test.js"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="backend.solr.test.js"></script>
 
   <!-- views and view tests -->
   <script type="text/javascript" src="../src/view.grid.js"></script>