Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When students from Imperial picture Silwood Park, they see a vibrant, enchanting, and verdant campus brimming with distinctive plant and animal life, setting it apart from other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are spot on—every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this lesser-known Imperial cohort, I wish to showcase the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Silwood Park functions as Imperial’s open-air laboratory, covering 77 hectares and featuring ecosystems such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A brief exploration of iNaturalist, a platform for recording and sharing biodiversity observations with a global network of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been cataloged on campus. Moreover, eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been identified on campus to date.
Remarkably, Silwood Park is also home to several long-term field studies, such as the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project, which are recognized as some of the more notable initiatives undertaken here.
Student Experience at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate students focused on projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are involved in a variety of clubs based at Silwood Park. Some noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – tending to the chickens kept behind our residence halls
- Book Club – meeting regularly to discuss various books of interest
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and conservation initiatives for students at Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, a significant number of us also engage in activities from clubs located in South Kensington!
Casually, we enjoy sports clubs such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (which happens to be my personal favorite!), either on the multi-use games area (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and lectures, we host many community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and manages these gatherings to foster a lively and engaging student atmosphere! Not long ago, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our international community exchanged languages and cultures over a series of weeks, and our yearly Chinese New Year celebration, where we prepared dumplings and couplets to usher in the new lunar year. We’ve also hosted community-vetted parties celebrating global cultural events (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of celebration.
However, my absolute favorite event on campus is the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It’s part of Silwood tradition that the quiz losers are responsible for arranging the subsequent quiz, and I can say with pride that I’ve set the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Although I’ve lost many quizzes due to my limited trivia knowledge, the experience is filled with great fun, good friends, and a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively energy of civilization (e.g., the train station and the closest village), life at Silwood Park never feels dull or insufficient. Beyond the wide array of events and activities, we enjoy a friendly and hospitable community of students from various corners of the globe. We all cherish nature, our stunning campus landscape, and, most importantly, each other’s company. We form a tightly-knit group that relishes stargazing in the winter chill in the open field beside our bar, observing the birds and mammals that visit our windows, and spending time with fellow nature enthusiasts.
On most evenings, I prepare meals with my dear friend from India, who shares my