Watch as Hollywood actor Tom Hardy takes part in Loxwood Joust in Sussex

The actor – star of such movies as Venom, Mad Max and The Dark Knight Rises – put on armour, chainmail and helmet and fought Jacob Cronin, club vice captain of team Invicta Battle Heritage who were putting on demonstrations at the weekend event.

The Hollywood hunk later posted a photo and video on Instagram, saying: “This might have happened today...random day out in the English countryside nipping to the shops.”

He added: “Thanks for the beatings” and tagged in Loxwood Joust and Invicta Battle Heritage.

Tom – who has a range of films to his credit such as Inception, Dunkirk and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and also starred in Peaky Blinders – was reported to have moved to the Sussex countryside from London in 2020.

As well as battlefield fights, the annual Loxwood Joust features full-contact jousting, falconry displays, torture with the executioner, and daring displays of weaponry, archery and cannon fire, along with a living history village where people live and work exactly as they would have done in Medieval England.