A visit to
Gilwell Park

A Visit To Gilwell Park in England

Gilwell Park is known as the spiritual home of Scouting, located to the north-east of London. While the history of Gilwell Park dates back to 1407, it wasn't until 1919 that the land and buildings were donated to the UK Scouting Movement by a 'William de Bois Maclaren', a Scot. A small patch containing The Maclaren tartan can be found on the back of neckerchiefs worn by Scouters who have been awarded their Woodbadge Beads, therefore honoring the role played by William de Bois.

Gilwell park is mainly used as the main training center for all UK Scouting leadership courses, including the afore mentioned Woodbadge training, but Scout groups can also camp there too!

How is Gilwell Park connected to Scouting in the USA you ask. Read on!

Scouts BSA (formerly Boy Scouts of America), as it's known today, was founded in 1910 by an American businessman called William D Boyce. However, Scouting in general was started in the United Kingdom by Robert Baden-Powell around 1908.

According to a fictionalized story, William Boyce was passing through London when lost in the usual fog, he stopped to ask directions from a young boy. Upon being shown the way, on reaching his destination, William wanted to reward him. The boy replied that he was only doing his duty as a Boy Scout. William Boyce then further read up upon Scouting in the UK, and formed Scouts BSA upon his return to the USA.

Today, we honor his actions by means of the 'William D Boyce Scouts BSA award': this presented to recognize volunteers who organize one or more traditional Scouting awards.

A Bronze Buffalo - placard reads: 'Presented in 1926 by the Boy Scouts of America to the Unknown Scout whose faithfulness in the performance of his daily good turn to William D Boyce in 1909 brought the Boy Scout movement to the United States of America.

A lifelike bust of Sir Robert Baden-Powell, presented to Gilwell Park in 1968 by the Scouts of Mexico

In connection to the buffalo, a smaller scale model 'Silver Buffalo Award' is presented for those who offer distinguished service to the movement.

At the center of Gilwell stands an oak tree of roughly 400 years of age. The oak is synonymous with Woodbadge: the original woodbadge beads were carved from this oak, and the training course is based around 'planting acorns': meaning big things are possible from modest beginnings, leaving 'a legacy, growing, for the future'.

The history of Gilwell Park, and other info, can be read via visiting any of the web-links at the bottom of this page. Gilwell Park is one of the landmarks of the World Wide Scouting Movement.

The Gilwell Oak Tree. One of the more famous points of interest on the site.

Gillwell oak on left, training field rest of photo (and more not seen in photo)

For those with a real interest in Scouting, it's worth making a quick trip should time and location allow.

A couple of leaders from Pack 333 were lucky enough to be able to make a flying visit to Gilwell Park while visiting the UK for a family member's 80th birthday.

Photos used throughout this article were taken during that trip. Some more photos are shown below. These photos are in no-way unique, but represent memories. Many other photos of Gilwell Park can be found online on various internet sites.
(photos autoresized due to Google Sites, therefore may not show the full image; google sites is horrible for doing anything with photos. Original ones available elsewhere..)