Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students imagine Silwood Park, they picture a lush, enchanting, and green campus rich with wildlife and plants that are rarely seen at our other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are right—and every mental image of Silwood Park is spot on!
As a member of this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I would like to showcase the student life, activities, and community at our natural parkland campus in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Silwood Park functions as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and showcasing environments like freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A quick lookup on iNaturalist, an app for documenting and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide with a social network of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Furthermore, a search on eBird reveals that 111 bird species have been spotted on campus thus far.
Even more fascinating, Silwood Park is home to a variety of long-term field research projects, including the well-known Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project among the many studies conducted here.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus mainly serves postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution initiatives. A significant number of us engage in multiple clubs based at Silwood Park. Some prominent examples include:
- Chicken Club – overseeing the care of the chickens raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – meeting regularly to talk about books from their reading list
- Gardening Club – tending to the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – arranging nature walks and conservation-oriented activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also take part in activities of clubs based at South Kensington!
Casually, we have clubs involved in sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), played either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Apart from club activities and classes, we host various community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and facilitates such events, ensuring a vibrant and exciting student experience! In recent months, we held a Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community shared languages and cultures over several weeks, and we also welcomed the lunar new year by making dumplings and couplets to celebrate the start of the year. Additionally, we’ve hosted community-organized parties to commemorate global events (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of festivities.
However, my favorite campus activity is the weekly pub quiz, organized by our student community. It’s part of Silwood culture that those who lose the pub quiz must arrange the next one, and I can proudly claim the record for the highest number of pub quizzes set this year. Despite my struggles in many pub quizzes due to limited general trivia knowledge, there’s always a great time to be had with good friends and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively atmosphere of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt boring or lacking. In addition to an array of events and activities, we boast a friendly and inclusive community made up of students from all corners of the globe. We share a passion for nature, appreciate our stunning campus grounds, and, more importantly, enjoy each other’s company. We form a tight-knit community that relishes stargazing in the winter chill on the open field next to