Extra seats had to put out in St Mary’s Church in Marlborough for the spectacle of a group of Maasai warriors from Kenya presenting dances and songs telling the history of the Osiligi tribe from the south of Nairobi.

The warriors – six men with two women from the tribe – are spending three months in England presenting their shows to raise money to be used to provide better educational facilities for their children.

They spent two nights in Marlborough with host families before heading for the West Country where they will be giving shows across Devon and Cornwall, including spending two weeks at the Eden Project.

Each year former school bursar John Certin from Sussex brings over to the UK teams of Maasai warriors to tell the story of their tribal life and raise funds for their poverty-stricken communities.

On Wednesday last week the Maasai group told how they were formerly hunter-gatherers who drove their herds of animals all over the country until their own government forced them to settle. They were taught Christianity by missionaries and all members of the Osiligi tribe are Christians.

Through their dances they demonstrated some of their traditional activities, singing to their cows to soothe them while they milked them.

Mr Certin said he was thrilled to see that people from the Marlborough area had supported the warriors by attending.

He said: “It is the first time the warriors have come to Marlborough and I certainly did not expect to see so many people turn out to see them.”