The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust receives no government funding or any other kind of public subsidy.  It depends entirely upon the public for support and relies on the income generated from visitor, Friends and donors.

If you would like to help us continue to care for and keep alive the heritage William Shakespeare left to the world please consider getting involved by:  

Adopting a Farm Animal

More About the Trust 

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is an independent registered educational charity that came into existence in 1847, following the purchase of Shakespeare's Birthplace for preservation as a national memorial.  The Trust now owns five houses relating to Shakespeare in and around the town of Stratford-upon-Avon; the only authentic buildings directly linked to the Bard and his family.  The Trust also cares for Harvard House, home to the mother of the founder of Harvard University. 

The Trust promotes Shakespeare and his writings worldwide, maintaining one of the world's most important Shakespeare libraries, the collections of which include translations of Shakespeare in over seventy languages from Armenian to Yiddish.  It is also the headquarters of the International Shakespeare Association.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust keeps an outstanding collection of books and other materials relating to Shakespeare productions from the 17th century to the present day.  It is also home to the archives of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre 1879-1960 and of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1961 onwards. 

Collections belonging to the Trust include many unique documents relating to Shakespeare and his family, second only in number to those in The National Archive in London.  The Trust also looks after a large collection of documents, maps, and photographs relating to the history of Stratford and the surrounding area.  In addition, the Trust has one of the finest museum collections in the UK of furnishings of Shakespeare's period.

The activities of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust include running international programmes throughout the year on Shakespeare's writings, through its education department.  It also runs the Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival, the oldest in the UK, and rears prize-winning livestock including Cotswold sheep and Longhorn cattle.