Shakespeare visited New Romney twice to perform his plays, it has been revealed.

The Bard, who was also an actor, arrived in 1609 and 1612, a town council meeting heard on Monday .

And now a booklet detailing these visits is to be published in time for the 400th anniversary of his death this spring, during an anticipated global resurgence of interest in Shakespeare and his work.

Mayor Patricia Rolfe told the meeting: “He came here and to other places with the King’s Men [his theatre group].

“It shows how important the town of New Romney is in its history of promoting art for centuries.”

The details were originally revealed to her by local historians Colin and Margaret Walker, of Dymchurch and District Heritage Group.

William Shakespeare usually divided his time between his family home in Stratford-upon-Avon and stage work in London.

But by 1609 the bubonic plague had struck the capital and its theatres were repeatedly closed during outbreaks.

This meant that actors had to go out to the provinces to perform.

Mr Walker told the Express: “It is for this reason that the group came to New Romney in May 1609 but they also went to Folkestone, Hythe, Dover and Fordwich.

“It appears that they enjoyed their time in New Romney so they came back in April 1612.”

The performances would have been in the town hall of the day, not the present one, which dates back to 1707.

It is not known which plays were staged on the first visit but Shakespeare’s latest works by then were the comedy Pericles, Prince of Tyre and the tragedy Coriolanus.

The King’s Men’s tour of 1612 was for Julius Caesar and Othello but it is not know which of the two were performed in New Romney.

The King’s Men usually consisted of nine actors, including Shakespeare, and it is known that the group was paid a total of 20 shillings for each show in New Romney.

With the value of that sum estimated to be £2,018 today it would have been a payment of £224.22 for each actor.

Dymchurch and District Heritage Group and New Romney Town Council are working on a project to publish a 12-page booklet of the history of entertainment in New Romney.

The visits by Shakespeare are expected to be featured in this.

William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, died on his 52nd birthday on April 23, 1616.