Written by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When Imperial students visualize Silwood Park, they picture a lush, enigmatic, and green campus overflowing with distinctive flora and fauna, unlike other campuses such as South Kensington or White City. In many ways, they are spot on—every depiction of Silwood Park is true!
As an advocate for this lesser-known segment of Imperial, I aim to showcase the student life, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
Welcome to Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and encompassing ecosystems such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and expansive grasslands. A brief look on iNaturalist, an app for documenting and sharing biodiversity observations worldwide with an online community of naturalists, shows that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus. Additional research on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been documented on campus so far.
Remarkably, Silwood Park also hosts numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two of the most well-known studies conducted here.
Student Life at Silwood Park
The campus mainly caters to postgraduate students focused on ecology, conservation, and evolutionary studies. Many of us engage in various clubs based at Silwood Park. Some notable examples are:
- Chicken Club – caring for chickens that are raised behind our residence halls
- Book Club – regularly convening to discuss interesting reads
- Gardening Club – managing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – organizing nature walks and conservation activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the larger Imperial student network, many of us also get involved in activities from clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we have groups engaging 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 areas like Bracknell or Ascot.
Alongside club activities and classes, we host numerous community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park has its own student council that organizes and facilitates these activities, ensuring a lively and enjoyable student experience! Recently, we hosted the Silwood language exchange, where our international community exchanged languages and cultures over several weeks, and our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the beginning of the year, where we made dumplings and couplets to usher in the new lunar year. We’ve also organized community parties celebrating global festivities (like Carnival) or simply for the love of social gatherings.
My favorite campus tradition is the weekly pub quiz, put together by our student community. It’s part of Silwood culture that the quiz losers create the next one, and I can proudly claim the most quizzes set this year. Despite losing many quizzes due to my subpar general trivia knowledge, it’s always a good time with great company and a nice pint of beer.
Silwood Park: My Second Home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the vibrant ambiance of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt dull or lacking. Beyond countless events and activities, we enjoy a warm, inviting community of students from across the globe. We all appreciate nature, treasure our stunning campus grounds, and, more importantly, relish each other’s companionship. We’re a close-knit community that delights in stargazing during the winter chill in the open field beside our bar, observing birds and mammals at our windows, and spending time with fellow nature enthusiasts.
Most evenings, I cook with my dear friend