Was Shakespeare a teacher? Villagers claim the Bard spent his 'lost years' working as a humble schoolmaster

William Shakespeare could have worked as a humble schoolmaster during his 'lost years', historians have today claimed.

For more than 400 years, Stratford-upon-Avon has held the unrivalled crown as the playwright's home, The Daily Mail reports.
Now devotees of the Bard in Titchfield, Hampshire, have laid claim to their part of the nation's literary heritage.

They believe Shakespeare spent three years working as a schoolmaster at the Grammar School there between 1589 and 1592.

The theory matches Shakespeare's friendship with his patron Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, who owned Titchfield Abbey, later known as Place House.

Locals have pointed to the fact that Shakespeare wrote just two dedications in his life and they were both dedicated to Wriothesley.

Titchfield Festival Theatre group claim the area's surroundings may have inspired his plays Henry V and Love's Labour's Lost.
They believe his works would have been produced and performed by locals.

Members have launched a bid to rival Stratford's tourist status, including a Shakespeare Trail complete with characters guiding visitors around.

Other theories see him looking after the horses of theatre patrons in London, ahead of his theatrical career.