AN HISTORICAL convent in York is unlocking its doors to display new research into the lives of those who lived there.

The Bar Convent, on Blossom Street, England's oldest convent - established in 1686 - is inviting visitors to explore their buildings after they've carried out new research into their history, as part of the York Unlocked events this weekend.

The convent event is on Saturday, October 15 from 10am to 4pm, and admission to the house, the chapel - which was built entirely in secret - and Georgian parlour, is free, with no pre-booking required.

The Grade I listed house was home to a group of widows who established the first ever school for girls in the country in London, and the second in the country is here in York.

The women were actually religious sisters, and the house was an illegal convent during Henry VIII’s English Reformation, which made Catholicism punishable by death.

The new-found research includes the original diary entry of when the 'priest's hiding hole' was first found, which isn't as previously thought, where escape routes may have been and the reasons why, and a new immersive curation of the Georgian Parlour.

Dr Hannah Thomas, Archives Manager, said: “The history of the Bar Convent is truly incredible. A group of religious sisters, followers of Yorkshire woman Mary Ward, were so determined that girls should receive the same education as boys that they set up the first ever schools in the country.

"They risked their lives to set up an illegal convent, the first in the country after Henry VIII ordered them all closed.

“It is incomprehensible that, against all the odds, they managed to succeed in their mission, with the house still standing today as the oldest living convent in England and the main house of a global network of religious sisters who have now established around 200 schools world-wide.

“York Unlocked has given us the opportunity to carry out new research and produce a narrative of the house that gives visitors a much deeper understanding of life at the convent during the reformation, and how significant the Bar Convent truly is, in York, in England and around the world.”

York Unlocked, a non-profit Community Interest company which aims to raise public awareness of the architecture of York, is running the events this weekend, giving both open access and guided tours of the city's historic buildings which are usually closed or infrequently opened to the public.

The buildings will reveal the ‘rich tapestry’ of York’s history, from Georgian era residences to Medieval timbered structures to a Masonic Lodge giving an insight into the traditionally ‘secretive’ world of the freemasons.