The Life and Times of Saint John Boste
Valley Writers, a group of writers from Esh Winning, staged an exhibition with a difference on 22nd July 2006 in the Newhouse Parish Centre in Esh Winning.
The small village of Waterhouses near Esh Winning can claim its own local Saint: St John Boste, who lived a little over 400 years ago. He was an active catholic priest at a time when that was an offence punishable by death. For 13 years he managed to escape the spy catchers of Queen Elizabeth I, but was finally betrayed when he said Mass at the Waterhouse in the Deerness Valley and hanged, drawn and quartered on Dryburn Hill in Durham.
After receiving a £2,500 grant from the National Lottery, Awards For All, the Valley Writers have been researching “The Life and Times of St John Boste” in a project taking a year and have written stories, poems and playlets based on it. They have taken some of their work to local Primary Schools (Our Lady Queen of Martyrs RC Primary School in Esh Winning, St Benets RC Primary School in Ouston and Esh Winning Primary School) and encouraged the children not only to act out the plays but to write some stories themselves or to do some paintings or story boards inspired by the story of St John Boste:
When every single one of the Queen's soldiers were looking for John Boste, John started to go in a disguise, pretending he was someone else and then he would not get killed as long as he kept quiet. After a while Francis Eagles Cliffe (who was a spy who wormed around Waterhouses pretending to be a Catholic) while he was worming around in his usual fashion he walked past a doorway, he looked in and found John Boste praying in private. Francis gasped and as soon as he had got his breath back he ran out of Waterhouses to go and tell the Queen and her soldiers. When Francis finally got to the Queen and told her the news the Queen was astonished and gave Francis lots and lots of money to thank him. After Francis had left she gathered up all of her soldiers and told them where John Boste was hiding, so that he would get killed...
The Valley Writers were very pleased to welcome the Mayor of Durham, Councillor Jeff Lodge, to the exhibition. There was information about life in Tudor England and John Boste's place in it. Visitors sampled some medieval food. The Valley Writers read from their stories. Members of the Durham Shakespeare Group and Durham Dramatic Society performed the plays, which the Valley Writers wrote for the schools. Local musicians Rose Reeve and Shirley Forster provided period interval music.
Last update: 3rd December 2007
