A local historian believes a long-lost tapestry places the Battle of Bosworth in the same location revealed by experts last week following a four-year search.

Retired farmer, 88-year-old Arthur Tomlin, produced his own map of the battlefield site in 2005, when the expert study was first announced.

He said his father had told him all about it from a detailed embroidery which hung in a farmhouse where he had worked in the early 1900s.

Leicestershire County Council announced last week that the exact site of the battlefield had been found following a £150,000 search.

The breakthrough came with the discovery of artillery, including cannonballs and lead shot, about two miles away from the battlefield centre at Ambion Hill, Sutton Cheney.

The new location positions the 1485 battle south and west of Ambion Hill, between the villages of Dadlington, Shenton, Upton and Stoke Golding.

The council has refused to be specific about the location until more work has been done on the survey area, for fear that the site will be invaded by illicit treasure hunters.

Mr Tomlin, vice-chairman of Hinckley and District Museum, who grew up in the area, drew up a map from his father's memories showing a location south and west of Ambion Hill, between Shenton, Upton and Dadlington.

His map included the marsh, which played a key role in Henry Tudor's assault on Richard III's men, and which was extensively searched by the archaeology team.

Mr Tomlin, from Hinckley, said of his map: "I can tell you that's where it was for the simple reason my father went to learn farming at Ambion Farm, and there was this tapestry on the wall.

"It went three-quarters of the way along the wall and was about a yard wide, so it was quite a big affair, and it had got every detail on it according to my father.

"He was there in 1912, with a chap named Henry Porter, who was about 80 at the time and had lived there most of his life.

"The tapestry showed everything, every detail. I never saw it but my father was always describing it to me because I was interested.

"He was always talking about it and where things were. It was more or less between Dadlington and Shenton."

The archaeologists never had sight of Mr Tomlin's map before the study, and when it was sent to the county council last week, their spokesman declined to comment on whether or not it was accurate, not wanting to reveal the new location.

The siting of the battlefield has been the subject of debate for more than 25 years.

The Ambion Hill theory was suggested by former county council archaeologist, the late Danny Williams, based on a historian's early 18th century account, and the centre developed on that site.

But later there were several other theories, including one which put it closer to Dadlington and another which suggested it was fought in north Warwickshire.

The search has included every type of archaeological study, including topographic analysis, soil sampling, field walking and the study of historical documents.

Battlefields Trust archaeologist Glenn Foard, who led the study, said: "While all this evidence took us to the general area where the action was fought, it was a systematic survey with metal detectors that was the method by which we finally located the battlefield. The combined evidence proves that the battle was fought in the area between the villages of Dadlington, Shenton, Upton and Stoke Golding, in a location not previously suggested."