Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a vibrant, enchanting, and green campus alive with distinctive animals and plants, different from those found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are spot on—each depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As an ambassador for this lesser-known Imperial enclave, I aim to showcase the student experience, activities, and community at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Discovering Silwood Park
Silwood Park acts as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and encompassing ecosystems such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and open pastures. A brief exploration on iNaturalist, an application for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations globally within a network of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been registered on campus. Moreover, eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been documented on campus to date.
Notably, Silwood Park is also home to several long-term field research initiatives, including the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project, which are among the more prominent studies carried out on-site.
Student Life at Silwood Park
The campus mainly accommodates postgraduate scholars focused on ecology, conservation, and evolutionary studies. Many of us are engaged in various clubs situated at Silwood Park. Some notable mentions include:
- Chicken Club – tending to the chickens located behind our residence halls
- Book Club – regularly conversing about interesting readings from their book list
- Gardening Club – overseeing the plots in our community garden
- Conservation Club – putting together nature walks and conservation events for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the wider Imperial student body, many of us also join in activities of clubs located in South Kensington!
Casually, we have sports teams for badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), hosted either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and coursework, we host numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park features its own student council that organizes and coordinates these events to promote a lively and engaging student life! Recently, we’ve held the Silwood language exchange, where our international community exchanged languages and cultures over several weeks, and our yearly Chinese New Year celebration, where everyone came together to prepare dumplings and couplets to usher in the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized gatherings celebrating global occasions (like Carnival) or just for the sake of good times.
My favorite event on campus is the weekly pub quiz, led by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the quiz losers coordinate the next event, and I can proudly note that I’ve set the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Even though I’ve lost many pub quizzes due to my limited trivia knowledge, it always leads to a great time with good friends and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the lively atmosphere of civilization (e.g., the train station and the closest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or underwhelming. Alongside the many events and activities, we have a friendly and inviting community consisting of students from around the globe. We all appreciate nature, value our stunning campus grounds, and, most importantly, enjoy each other’s presence. We’re a tight-knit community that loves stargazing in the chilly winter nights on the vast field next to our bar, observing the birds and mammals that visit our room windows, and spending time with fellow nature enthusiasts.
Most evenings, I prepare