TO ANY passer-by the white semi-detached home in Anderson Avenue, Melbourne, is just like any other on the quiet residential road.
Ladies wearing jumpers and jeans come and go, a cosy living room can be spied through the window and cars are parked across the driveway.
But behind the inconspicuous front door an ancient community of canonesses are busy co-ordinating celebrations for their 370th anniversary.
"The external may have changed from our beginnings but essentially it's all the same," said Sister Moira, who lives with three other sisters at their Chelmsford base.
"This anniversary seems a good moment in our lives to share this history. It gives us the chance to tell our story and to show that really it's only the external expression of our order that has altered."
With English origins dating back to 1642 when Queen Elizabeth I forbade public worship of Catholicism, the canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre began life in exile in Belgium under 20-year-old founder Susan Hawley.
Forced to migrate back across the Channel to England during the 18th century, however, the community established themselves at the grand New Hall estate in Boreham in 1799 which they purchased for just £4,000.
"The order chose between that and Clarence House – lived in by the Royal Family of course – but it was thought living too close to the capital might be distracting for the nuns," said Sister Moira, one of the 17 canonesses working in the communities of Essex.
The sisters founded and ran independent New Hall School until 2005, surviving the struggles of two world wars including significant damage from bombing in 1943.
Indeed many of their current members, the oldest of whom is 84, joined the community directly after finishing at the Chelmsford school, although others – like Sister Moira – took the step later on in life.
"I was in my thirties and looking for something that would take my whole life, not just something that was part of my work or family but my entire life" she said.
However, after overseeing the daily running of the school for more than 200 years, the nuns decided to set up a Trust and pass the role to lay persons so that they might take their work elsewhere.
"We've always sought to adapt to what is needed in society and at that time providing a high quality education to children was needed," said Sister Moira. "It was the most beautiful place to live and we all miss it in a way, but I think we all agree that it was the right thing to move away to carry on our work elsewhere.
"We chose areas we knew to be socially deprived across the diocese, one of which was Melbourne in Chelmsford, where we believed we could respond to the needs of people."
The nuns began from their base in Anderson Avenue in 2005, setting up a group for the elderly, and homework clubs for youngsters, but their efforts flourished and the ladies are now familiar faces in Melbourne.
Their 'Melbourne Project', which has been running since 2003, battles social problems like drink, drugs and teenager pregnancies on Chelmsford's most socially-deprived estate.
In 2010 they were praised by a government minister as a shining example to the rest of the country for helping to reduce antisocial behaviour and bringing a community together.
"We quickly became known in the area as a place where people could go for advice, for practical help or a shoulder to cry on," said Sister Moira. "And now that we've been here for many years any trouble we might have from the teenagers is tempered by the fact that we have known them since they were very little. We never really get anything but smiles and co-operation."
Although many are now in their eighties, the canonesses continue to work tirelessly for the Melbourne community and Sister Moira laughs at the mention of "spare time" as they divide themselves between cookery classes, holiday clubs and social events for the elderly.
And this year the dedicated women have taken on a further task in compiling an exhibition for their milestone anniversary which will be displayed at Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall in Melbourne on June 7 and 8.
"It's been a lot of work but it's a great achievement," said Sister Moira, who still travels abroad regularly to visit branches of the community in Europe and Africa. "It has brought together so many people from the past and present. It's been an absolute joy."
An embroidered butterfly was chosen by the community to mark their 370th birthday, a symbol of what they continue to believe in.
"The butterfly appears to die as a caterpillar but then it emerges as a butterfly more powerful than before," said Sister Moira.
"We want to show to people, particularly in an area such as Melbourne, that although life can be difficult and grim there is hope."
