Members of the public will have a rare chance to see relics from some of Yorkshire's abbeys, castles and other historic sites this weekend.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Bob Smith with an old sign from Rievaulx Abbey at the archaeological store at Helmsley

Picture: David Harrison

English Heritage is opening the doors of its archaeological store at the Old Station Yard, off Ryegate, Helmsley, for one day only on Sunday.

People are being urged to book places for one of only five tours to take place on the day. The number of visitors per tour will be limited to 20.

Andrew Morrison, senior regional curator with English Heritage, said: "The archaeological store is actually an 8,000 sq ft modern warehouse.

"In the past, English Heritage always stored its archaeological collections either on site or in its laboratories.

"But, ten years ago, it was decided to start storing them in central warehouses in the region they came from."

The Helmsley store houses items recovered from more than 50 sites around the region.

They include Rievaulx Abbey, Fountains Abbey, Aldborough Roman town, Pickering Castle, Scarborough Castle and Clifford's Tower in York.

Mr Morrison said: "Altogether, we've got about two million objects in the store, including about 10,000 to 12,000 pieces of masonry, thousands of floor tiles and so on.

"As part of National Museums Week, we're conducting some guided tours around the store. Because of the kind of institution we are, we can't allow people to wander around by themselves."

He said guided tours would take place at 11am, noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm. To book places, telephone the custodians at Rievaulx Abbey on 01439 798228.

The last time the Helmsley archaeological store opened to the public was three years ago, when 120 people joined guided tours.

Mr Morrison said: "This time, we have limited it to five tours, so the maximum number of people will be 100.

"If it goes well, we will consider doing it again on the National Archaeology Days, which will take place over a weekend in July, and on the Civic Trust open days in September when buildings which you can't normally get into are open."

See York Events for details of Museum Week

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