A LAST glimpse inside what used to be St Mary's Convent School has been revealed thanks to these pictures and video taken from inside the building.

The former all-girls school in Battenhall, which served the city for 80 years, closed at the end of 2014.

Enterprise Retirement Living developers are on the verge of beginning work to transform the building into a multi-million pound care village for 100 pensioners.

The plan is also to convert the junior school house into five apartments and then build another 15 apartments around the building.

The community will be for over-60s and assistance will be available to residents 24 hours a day, although there will not be carers on the site.

There will also be a restaurant, a bar, lounges, a library, therapy rooms, a hairdressing salon and a gym built on the site.

The site is now closed to the public but photographers Richard Purvis and Andy Dawson were given special access to go inside and take pictures.

Some of their images capture the beauty of the building and its unique architectural features.

While others give a peek into the last days of the school, showing an abandoned lab and the graffiti left by some of the last girls to receive an education there before the school was closed for good.

The pictures will surely serve as a walk down memory lane for anyone who remembers the school.

Mr Dawson asked for permission to visit the site, on behalf of the city's Digibox Camera Club.

The pair met with the developers last Sunday and have agreed to pass on all the images taken to them so they can be kept for their records.

Mr Purvis said: "It was great to get an insight to the place prior to redevelopment."

The Grade II listed site dates back to 1863 and was a former hospital before becoming a girls school.

Mr Purvis said he understood all the building's special features will be preserved as part of the re-development.

The site was put on the market in November 2014 for an asking price of £4 million.

When it closed down, the school's management put it down to no longer being viable.