Robert Hardy: Actor never forgot his Shropshire roots

Mr Hardy, who has died aged 91, had strong connections to Shrewsbury dating as far back as 1932 when his father Henry Harrison Hardy became headmaster of Shrewsbury School, a post he would hold until 1944.

Robert Hardy, who grew up in Aston-on-Clun, did not attend Shrewsbury School himself – he studied at Rugby School.

But he never forgot his Shropshire roots. He was an enthusiastic advocate for the Theatre Severn at a time when there was some opposition to its design and cost, visiting it during its construction in 2008.

He is also well remembered for his role in the official registration of the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury and the town’s commemoration of the life of Wilfred Owen.

Mr Hardy officially opened the Battlefield 1403 exhibition centre in 2008, after lobbying for the site’s significance to be recognised by Historic England as part of its Battlefields Panel.

Speaking of the site’s importance, and the fight for it to be recognised, he said: “I fought for the battlefield of Shrewsbury since I joined the Battlefields Panel.

“They said they were not sure where it was and wanted to put it into a reduced section as a battlefield site so you are not able to protect it as completely.

“But I said I knew exactly where it was and I trod them all around the field.”

The actor, who played Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter films, was also a vocal critic of the construction of Shrewsbury’s incinerator and its “blasted chimney”.

He campaigned for English Heritage to oppose the project, and even threatened to resign from his position on the Battlefield Panel.

Speaking at the time he said: “It is still possible to walk round the site and say ‘here stood ...’, ‘here charged ...’, ‘here resisted ...’, ‘here fled ...’ and so forth. You can clearly correlate between now and then.

“Part of the English Heritage mandate is to look not only to the approved site of the battle but also the environs and this new chimney would stand right between the visitor centre and observation points and views of the spires of Shrewsbury and the Welsh hills beyond. There are no really good reasons for it. The arguments for it are specious.”

He became an expert in the longbow, which saw its first use by both sides on English soil at the Battle of Shrewsbury, where King Henry IV’s forces defeated a rebel army led by Henry “Hotspur” Percy. In all around 5,000 soldiers died in the battle.

Mr Hardy also performed on a number of occasions at events held to remember the First World War Poet Wilfred Owen, including at a service to mark the 90th anniversary of his death.

His efforts have been remembered by Caroline Thewles, an events manager with the Wilfred Owen Association.

She said: “He got very involved with the Wilfred Owen Association and would come up and do a lot of readings for us for absolutely free. He was a very kind and generous man and we will miss him very much. She added: “He was really really good to us, very generous with his time.He was also good fun to be with, he was very fun,” she added.

Mr Hardy’s role as Siegfried Farnon in the long-running series All Creatures Great and Small saw him become a figure recognised in households across the country in an acting career that stretched from 1959 to 2015.

His acting career, which stretched from 1959 to 2015, included roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, a string of popular television shows, and performances as Winston Churchill.

Mr Hardy was also instrumental in the raising of the Tudor warship, the Mary Rose.

He returned to his father’s former school in 1984 to open Shrewsbury School’s Ashton Theatre after it had been converted from the old gym.