Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
When many Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they imagine a verdant, enigmatic, and green campus bustling with wildlife and botany rarely encountered at other locations such as South Kensington or White City. In numerous respects, this notion is correct – every depiction of Silwood Park holds true!
As a member of this lesser-known faction within Imperial, I wish to emphasize the student experience, activities, and community at our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
An overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor laboratory, covering 77 hectares and consisting of habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and vast grasslands. A quick search on iNaturalist, an application that allows users to map and exchange biodiversity observations globally within a community of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, and further inquiry on eBird indicates that 111 bird species have been noted on campus to date.
Interestingly, Silwood Park is also a hub for numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being two prominent studies conducted on-site.
Student experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily hosts postgraduate students focused on research related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Many of us are involved in several clubs located at Silwood Park. Noteworthy examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for the care of the chickens raised behind our residences
- Book Club – convening regularly to discuss interesting books on their reading agenda
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments in our community garden
- Conservation Club – arranging nature walks and conservation-related activities for students on Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also engage with and participate in activities of clubs based in South Kensington!
Informally, we also have groups participating in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which take place at either the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or in the indoor sports halls of nearby towns like Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club engagements and classes, we host various community-driven events on campus. Silwood Park features its own student council that organizes and enables these activities to ensure we enjoy a lively and stimulating student life! Recently, we conducted the Silwood language exchange, where our predominantly international community united to share our languages and cultures over several weeks, along with our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the start of the year, where everyone gathered to prepare dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also seen community-led parties celebrating festivities from around the globe (like Carnival) or parties organized simply for enjoyment.
However, my favorite campus event has to be the weekly pub quiz run by our student community. It’s customary in Silwood culture that the quiz losers must host the following one, and I can proudly claim the highest count of quizzes set this year. Despite failing multiple quizzes due to my inadequate general trivia knowledge, there’s always ample enjoyment to be found with great company and a refreshing pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my second home
Even though it’s a 30-minute stroll from the lively atmosphere of civilization (like the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt tedious or deprived. Alongside the multitude of events and activities, we benefit from a warm and inviting community of students from all corners.