Winners of the Beastly Boring Short Story Competition

We're extremely excited to announce the 3 winners of each age category for this year's Beastly Boring Short Story Competition! You can read each of our winners short stories below:

6-8 years: Arthur Walton - 'Blackbeard' (Age 7)

Judges comments: 'A really laborious account, lots of facts and a great understanding of history. '

9-11 years: Alexandria Coen - 'The Book of Hours' (Age 11)

Judges comments: 'An incredibly poetic account of Anne Boleyn, written from perspective of her diary, very clever use of personification. Really excellent.'

12-14 years: Winner to remain anonymous - Account of John Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter (Age 14)

Judges comments: 'A very descriptive account of how John Cecil (3rd Earl of Exeter) saves Burghley from a civil war. A fascinating read.'

We would like to take the chance to thank all of the entrants who sent their short, historical stories to us whether it was a handwritten copy in the post or by email.

Our team of judges have thoroughly enjoyed reading each story and loved seeing how creative each and every one of you could get. If you haven't received your Certificate of Achievement in the post, please email beastlyboringstory@burghley.co.uk with your address details and we will send this out to you as soon as we can.

Beastly Boring Short Story Competition information: In celebration of Lord Burghley’s 500th Anniversary in 2020, Burghley would like children to create their own piece of historical writing using no more than 500 words. There are three age categories, 6 – 8 years, 9 – 11 years, 12-14 years. No matter what their ability or background, we would love to see as many children getting involved and we’re most of all, looking forward to reading their individual pieces. Tell us about your favourite historical character, setting or location. This is the golden opportunity to show off your historical knowledge.