The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was formed in 1847, after five homes and gardens in Stratford-upon-Avon linked to Shakespeare were purchased as a national memorial to the Bard. The trustees of The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust were incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1891. Today the trustees carry out their responsibilities under the 1961 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Act.

The 1961 Act defined the objectives of the Trust as: to promote in every part of the world the appreciation and study of plays and other works of William Shakespeare and the general advancement of Shakespearian knowledge; to maintain and preserve the Shakespeare birthplace properties for the benefit of the nation; and to provide and maintain for the benefit of the nation a museum and a library of books, manuscripts, records of historic interest, pictures, photographs and objects of antiquity with particular but not exclusive reference to William Shakespeare, his life, works and times.