Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a lush, enchanting, and green campus alive with wildlife and plant life seldom found at other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are right—every portrayal of Silwood Park holds true!
As a spokesperson for this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I aim to showcase the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Introducing Silwood Park
Silwood Park acts as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares with ecosystems that include freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A straightforward search on iNaturalist, a platform for cataloging and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide among a network of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Furthermore, a search on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been documented on campus to date.
Interestingly, Silwood Park is also the setting for several long-term research projects, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the more notable studies carried out on-site.
Student Life at Silwood Park
The campus mainly houses postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolution studies. Many of us are active in several clubs based at Silwood Park. Prominent examples include:
- Chicken Club – tending to the chickens raised behind our dormitories
- Book Club – meeting regularly to discuss interesting reads
- 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 larger Imperial student body, many of us also engage in activities with clubs based in South Kensington!
Casually, we have groups participating in 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.
Beyond club activities and coursework, we conduct numerous community-led events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and supervises such activities, ensuring a lively and engaging student life! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our international community shared languages and cultures over several weeks, and our annual Chinese New Year celebration, where everyone came together to make dumplings and couplets to greet the new lunar year. We’ve also enjoyed community-organized parties celebrating global events (like Carnival) or simply for the joy of gathering.
My favorite campus event, however, is the weekly pub quiz, coordinated by our student community. It’s a Silwood tradition that the losers of the quiz must arrange the next one, and I can proudly claim to have set the most pub quizzes this year. Despite my frequent losses owing to my poor general knowledge, there’s always a great time with good company and a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Home Away from Home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the lively atmosphere of civilization (such as the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never seemed dull or lacking. In addition to the myriad of events and activities, we have a friendly and inviting community of students from across the globe. We all cherish nature, appreciate our beautiful campus grounds, and, more importantly, enjoy one another’s company. We’re a close-knit community that delights in stargazing during the chilly winter on the open field next to our bar, observing the birds and mammals that visit our room windows, and spending time with fellow nature enthusiasts.