VISCOUNTESS Weymouth, Emma Thynn, officially opened a new village play area at Horningsham Fayre on Sunday June 9.

The opening on took place during the annual village event held on the Horningsham Playing Field next to the Village Hall.

The Viscountess attended the event with her two children John and Henry, Lord Bath and Viscount Weymouth as well as other family members and friends.

The building and equipping of the £30,000 Henry Worsley play area was made possible by funding from the Longleat Charitable Trust, the Wiltshire Council Area Board for Warminster and public donations.

These included £11,500 raised by Rosalind Algar and family from a dinner, auction and talk by the headmasters of Warminster School and Wellington College.

It also included a personal donation of £1,000 from Mrs Joanna Worsley, widow of British explorer and former British Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Henry Worsley who used to live in the village.

Lt Colonel Worsley died aged 55 in Chile in 2016 after calling for help while attempting to complete the first solo and unaided crossing of the Antarctic.

The donation from Mrs Worsley was used to help provide the play area in her husband’s memory with a bench where parents, guardians and carers can watch the children play.

She said: "I would like to thank everyone who put money in to help create the play area. It would really mean a lot to Henry to see all the children using it."

Viscountess Emma said: "It's a place where children can play and enjoy themselves and be adventurous and brave, as Henry Worsley was."

The Horningsham Fayre attracted thousands of people and is expected to raise up to £9,000 to be split between village organisations, including St John the Baptist Church, the luncheon club, the cricket club, the local Women's Institute, Horningsham Chapel, the Village Hall and the Lions Club.

Events included a display of vintage and classic cars, displays by chainsaw sculptor Richard Austin and by Pitcombe Falconry, circus skills by Bezerkaz Circus, a Horningsham School Wake and Shake dance display, a plank race, and fun dog shows organised by Bellevue Vets at Trudoxhill near Frome.

Stalls included plants, bric-a-brac, Warminster Country Market, barbecue and a beer tent.