Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see an inviting, mysterious, and lush campus rich with wildlife and plant life that is rarely seen at our other locations like South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are right—every vision of Silwood Park is spot on!
As a spokesperson for this lesser-known segment of the Imperial community, I want to showcase the student experience, activities, and camaraderie that thrive at our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Silwood Park acts as Imperial’s field-based laboratory, covering 77 hectares and featuring ecosystems such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” woodland, and open pastures. A brief search on iNaturalist, an application for mapping and sharing biodiversity observations globally within an online community of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Furthermore, a search on eBird confirms that 111 bird species have been logged on campus so far.
Even more fascinating, Silwood Park is home to several long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more notable studies carried out on-site.
Life as a Student at Silwood Park
The campus mainly houses postgraduate students engaged in ecology, conservation, and evolutionary projects. Many of us are active in several clubs based at Silwood Park. Prominent examples include:
- Chicken Club – tasked with caring for the chickens kept behind our residence halls
- Book Club – meets regularly to discuss titles from their reading list
- Gardening Club – oversees the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizes nature walks and conservation-focused activities for Silwood Park attendees.
As a part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also join and actively engage in clubs located in South Kensington!
Additionally, we informally participate in clubs focused on sports such as badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), either at the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
Aside from club activities and coursework, we host many community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and oversees such events to maintain a lively and dynamic student atmosphere! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community came together to exchange languages and cultures over several weeks, as well as our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the year’s beginning, where everyone united to make dumplings and couplets to usher in the new lunar year. Additionally, we’ve hosted community-organized parties commemorating global events (like Carnival), or gatherings just for the enjoyment of having a good time.
Nevertheless, my personal favorite campus activity is the weekly pub quiz, arranged by our student community. It’s a part of Silwood tradition that those who lose the pub quiz must organize the next one, and I can proudly say I have set the most quizzes this year. Even though I’ve lost many pub quizzes because of my inadequate general trivia knowledge, there’s always great enjoyment to be had with good friends and a great pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the bustling atmosphere of civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or insufficient. Beyond the myriad of events and activities, we possess a warm and friendly community made up of students from around the globe. We all have a passion for nature, value our stunning campus grounds, and most importantly, relish each other’s company. We’re a tight-knit community that loves stargazing during the winter.