The Council for British Archaeology was founded in 1944 in response to the imminent redevelopmentof bomb damaged historic cities. One of its aims was the 'safeguarding of all kinds ofarchaeological material and the strengthening of existing measures for the care of ancient andhistoric buildings, monument, and antiquities.' It also endeavoured to raise public awareness of theneed for archaeology and for its inclusion into education. The Council's 'Survey and Policy forField Research' (1948) was as part of an integrated approach to the exploration of British heritage.Other pioneering actions and involvement included the setting up of the first Industrial ArchaeologyCommittee (1959), British Archaeological Abstracts (1968), Young Archaeologists Club, and 'InternetArchaeology' (1995).
The Council is arranged into specialist committees and groups. The committees originallyrepresented periods of history but since the 1970s, the committees became more thematic. In 1996,the nine committees were replaced by a single, strategic, UK-wide Research and ConservationCommittee.
The Council is also divided into regional groups. With relevance to this collection, Group 6represented Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland until the 1970s. The boundaries were then changedseveral times, most recently in the 1990s when Group 14 (representing Nottinghamshire,Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire) was renamed CBA East Midlands and recognised as aseparate area.