HUNDREDS of items from a historic abbey in Worcestershire have fetched more than £90,000 at auction.

Pieces from Stanbrook Abbey belonging to an order of Benedictine nuns were sold by auctioneers Bonhams in Knowle, Solihull.

The sale of 353 lots took place as the nuns, who have lived at Stanbrook for 170 years, prepare to move to a new purpose-built convent in Wass, North Yorkshire, following a decline in numbers.

The most valuable item was a collection of pressed flora and fauna given to the abbey in 1899, which sold for £6,240.

Another popular piece was a brass bound campaign chest used during the Crimean War, which fetched £2,400.

The 353 lots sold for about £91,000 in total, a spokeswoman for Bonhams said.

Mark Jones, Bonhams' regional director in Knowle, said: "Bonhams is privileged to have been entrusted with this sale.

"It is rare to find furniture and fittings from such a historically significant building coming to the market."

The nunnery, established in 1835, was first inhabited by nuns who were refugees from troubles in Europe.

They had fled to Stanbrook after being thrown out of their original abbey in Flanders and imprisoned during the French Revolution.

The abbey has been up for sale for nearly three years and was re-marketed earlier this year at a reduced price to try to attract a buyer.