Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When most Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a verdant, enchanting campus filled with wildlife and vegetation rarely found at other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – and every visualization of Silwood Park holds true!
As a voice for this lesser-known group within Imperial, I wish to emphasize the student experience, activities, and community at our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and encompassing habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, an application dedicated to mapping and sharing biodiversity observations globally within a community of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while an additional search on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been spotted on campus to date.
Moreover, Silwood Park is the location for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with projects like the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the more recognized studies conducted here.
Student Experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily caters to postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution projects. Many of us participate in several clubs based at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples are:
- Chicken Club – who tend to the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who convene regularly to chat about books on their reading list
- Gardening Club – who oversee the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – who coordinate nature walks and conservation-related activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student community, many of us are also active members and frequently engage in clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we have clubs that participate in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which take place either at the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at the indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club functions and lectures, various community-led events occur on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and facilitates such gatherings, ensuring we maintain a vibrant and dynamic student life! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community united to share our languages and cultures over several weeks, alongside our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the start of the year, where everyone contributed to making dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized festivities celebrating multicultural events from around the world (like Carnival), or parties held simply for the joy of gathering.
However, my favorite campus event must be the weekly pub quiz, hosted by our student community. It’s part of Silwood culture that the quiz losers are responsible for organizing the next one, and I can proudly state that I have set the most pub quizzes this year. Even though I’ve faced many losses at pub quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment to be experienced in good company with a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Although situated a 30-minute stroll from the lively atmosphere of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or deficient. Alongside the many activities and events, we enjoy a friendly and inviting community made up of students.