Somewhere in Britain, a hoard hidden away in the fifth century is waiting to be found. We want you to imagine the story behind this hidden treasure…
Write a short story of up to 1000 words inspired by late Roman hoards and enter our competition for a chance to win up to £50!
Our research project on ancient treasure hoards brings artefacts from the past back to life – and we’re inviting you to do the same through the power of your story telling. Entrants are invited to write a short story inspired by one of the posts featured on the project’s blog, https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/hoards/
Your story could explore the different items in a hoard, who owned and buried it, where it was hidden, and why it was buried. You can also think about its discovery and what happened once it was found. The choice is yours!
First Prize £50, Second Prize £30, Two runners-up £15.
Submit your story from the 20th July 2026-20th October 2026 – the link for the submission form will appear here.
Rules:
- Length – no more than 1000 words
- Subject matter – a story based on one of the blog posts on the project blog https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/hoards/
- The text must be double-spaced, in a font larger than Arial 11, and written in English.
- Entrants need to be aged between 11 and 17 years old (inclusive). For intended prize winners, we will contact your school or equivalent for age verification information before the prize is awarded.
- Students in Higher Education (e.g. Universities) may not enter the competition.
- The competition opens 20 July 2026, all entries must be received by 6pm, 20 October 2026.
- To enter the competition, fill out the short story competition form on the project blog from the 20th July-20th October 2026. The link will appear on this page for the duration of the competition. The form will ask for the information in the table below.
- The winning entry will be posted on the project blog https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/hoards/
- Entrants may benefit from advice from teachers, friends, etc. but may not use generative AI to produce or contribute to their submission.
Judging Process
The prize-winning scripts will be judged in relation to accuracy of originality, vividness, communication skills and factual information, by University of Kent staff from the Dept of Classical and Archaeological Studies, and British Museum staff from the Dept of Coins and Medals.
Queries may be sent to Dr Kelly Clarke-Neish, email: KClarke-Neish@britishmuseum.org
The submission form will ask you to provide the following information along with your short story:
| Britain’s Last Roman Hoards Short Story Competition Entry Form 2026 | |
| Name of Entrant | |
| Address of Entrant | |
| Email Address of Entrant | |
| School (if relevant) | |
| Contact email for school (if relevant) | |
| Age on date of entry | |
| Story text | |
| What have you learned about Britain at the end of the Roman period that you didn’t know before? (optional question – leave blank if you prefer) | |
| Confirmation of Authorship: By submitting the form, I confirm that the story above is my own work based on my own original ideas and I have not used generative AI to produce or contribute to it. |
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| Consent for Data Processing:
I have read the Privacy Notice provided and I consent to processing of the information submitted in the form for the necessary purposes of running the competition. |
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