EVER since Downton Abbey first aired in 2010, Highclere Castle in Hampshire has welcomed thousands of visitors eager to see the real life location used to portray the fictional Yorkshire country estate.

The great hall, dining room, library, music room, drawing room, saloon and several of the bedrooms located inside the building are used for filming, but fans will now also have the opportunity to view a very special work of art produced by Wrexham-based artist Simon O'Rourke which pays tribute to the World War Two heroes who perished on the estate over 70 years ago.

"It was a happy accident really," explains Simon, whose acclaimed wood carving business operates from Hem House Farm in Rossett.

"My wife and I were at Highclere doing the Downton tour and Liz went up and introduced herself to Lady Caernarfon who was floating around talking to people.

"There was an original wood carving by Grinling Gibbons in the dining room and I asked about it and we got chatting and it came up that I was a sculptor and Lady Caernarfon said they were looking for things to do with the cedar that came down on the estate.

"I didn't hear anything for two years but then I got an email saying she'd lost my card but she'd just found it and she was really glad because she had this idea."

The Countess had been moved to contact Simon after discovering that several US airmen who were stationed close to Highclere had sadly crashed on the 5,000-acre estate during World War Two.

Writing on her online blog, the Countess said: "During my research into the Second World War at Highclere, I discovered that quite a few planes had come down over the Estate.

"The pilots, navigators and airmen who died in the crashes were all somebody’s son: part of someone’s family with friends and a life not lived; most of them young Americans in their early twenties."

The Countess' research revealed that eight planes had crashed on the estate, killing almost 20 airmen, and leaving the remains of a B-17, P-38, two Mosquitoes, a Lysander, a Whitley and a Proctor all buried within the grounds.

One of the planes, a B-17 bomber aircraft, came down on Siddown Hill behind Highclere Castle, just three days before VE Day, on May 5th 1945. It was on its last mission.

Following her discoveries, the Countess asked Simon to use an 8ft piece of fallen cedar to sculpt a life-size carving of a Second World War airman, looking back towards the hills from the gardens at Highclere. She also set about trying to find as many surviving relatives of the airmen as she could.

"It was a huge piece of cedar that had been planted in 1800 and had come down in a storm," explains Simon. "It was a huge lump of wood but she wanted to commemorate the pilots and also reflect their characters rather than be the usual sombre memorial.

"We talked through a number of poses and how it might look - the final idea shows the airman looking back over his shoulder and laughing and joking as if he's kitted out and ready to board that plane for the last time.

"It was a real challenge as the face and uniform had to be generic and I actually had meetings with the RAF about what he should be wearing."

Along with the airman sculpture, Simon also spent the summer crafting three benches, carved into the shape of a P-38 Lightning plane - two of which had crashed on the estate.

"My carpenter came up with this brilliant design and we were wondering about what legs to use - we decided to use some acrylic tubes which contained some of the shrapnel which had been recovered from the crash sites," says Simon.

"We finished on September 1 and it was unveiled at a special ceremony just eight days later with the benches arranged around the airman. It was a multi-faith service with lots of different people speaking and even Dame Vera Lynn sent a message complimenting the sculpture.

"Most moving of all was meeting the families of the airmen - there was even one survivor from the B-17 crash who they'd located but sadly he'd died before the ceremony. He'd been thrown from the aircraft and broken his back so meeting his widow was an incredible experience."

The memorial will now be in situ permanently where Simon hopes the thousands of tourists will take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices made by the airmen who died on the Estate.

"As well as the joy of seeing the completed pieces in their new home, and the fun of being able to take part in the weekend, participating in this way also leaves us humbled and thankful for the men, women and animals in our armed forces and law enforcement," adds Simon.

"We hope that others who visit the castle and see our airman and benches, will not only enjoy the artistry, but also take a moment to pause and reflect on their significance."

"She put the word out in America and incredibly George Lucas got wind of it and put all his staff to work finding them," says Simon. "He found a number of the families

They were exploring the different pLanes that had crashed on the estate and had found the sites and what pilots had died. There were a number that came down because it was used as a training ground.