Authored by Clarence (Singapore), MSc Living Planet specializing in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
When the majority of Imperial students picture Silwood Park, they see a vibrant, enigmatic, and green campus abundant with wildlife and vegetation rarely found on other campuses like South Kensington or White City. In many respects, they are correct – every portrayal of Silwood Park holds true!
As a representative of this lesser-known enclave at Imperial, I wish to showcase the student experience, activities, and community within our natural parkland campus located in Ascot, Berkshire.
An overview of Silwood Park
Silwood Park serves as Imperial’s outdoor research facility, covering 77 hectares and featuring habitats such as freshwater streams, lakes, an “ancient” forest, and open fields. A quick search on iNaturalist, an app where users can map and share biodiversity observations globally through a network of naturalists, reveals that 1,436 species of plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded on campus, while further inquiries on eBird indicate that 111 bird species have been documented to date.
Interestingly, Silwood Park is also the site of numerous long-term field research initiatives, with the Nash’s Field Experiment and the Blue Tit Project being among the more recognized studies conducted here.
Student experience at Silwood Park
The campus primarily hosts postgraduate students engaged in projects related to ecology, conservation, and evolution. Most of us belong to several clubs located at Silwood Park. Notable examples include:
- Chicken Club – responsible for caring for the chickens housed behind our residence halls
- Book Club – who meet regularly to discuss various titles on their reading list
- Gardening Club – overseeing the allotments within our community garden
- Conservation Club – who organize nature walks and conservation-oriented activities for students on the Silwood Park Campus.
As part of the broader Imperial student body, many of us also join and actively engage in activities from clubs in South Kensington!
Informally, we have clubs that participate in sports like badminton, basketball, and pickleball (my personal favorite!), which are held either on the multi-use games arena (MUGA) on campus or at indoor sports facilities in nearby towns such as Bracknell or Ascot.
In addition to club activities and classes, we enjoy many community-led events on campus. Silwood Park boasts its own student council that organizes and facilitates such events to maintain a vibrant and lively student experience! Recently, we held the Silwood language exchange, where our largely international community united to share languages and cultures over several weeks, and our annual Chinese New Year celebration at the year’s start, where everyone came together to create dumplings and couplets to welcome the new lunar year. We’ve also celebrated community-organized parties recognizing festivities from around the globe (like Carnival), or parties simply out of love for social gatherings.
However, my favorite event on campus has to be the weekly pub quiz organized by our student community. In Silwood culture, the quiz losers are responsible for hosting the next one, and I can proudly say I’ve set the highest number of pub quizzes this year. Even though I’ve lost numerous quizzes due to my limited general knowledge, it’s always a blast with great company and a good pint of beer.
Silwood Park: my sanctuary away from home
Even though it’s a 30-minute walk from the bustling essence of civilization (e.g., the train station and the nearest village), life at Silwood Park has never felt dull or lacking. Besides the multitude of events and activities, we share a warm and inviting community made up of students