Tipton has been described as the quintessence of the Black Country. In the early nineteenth century its coal mines were said to be 'inexhaustible' and its ironworks 'on a most extensive scale', all served by a dense network of canals. By the end of the 1800s mining and iron making were in decline but manufacturing output continued to grow with a myriad of iron and steel working trades and engineering activities, many related to the automotive and electrical industries. All this industrial activity left a scarred landscape with almost a quarter of Tipton's surface being classified as derelict in the late 1940s.

Since that time there has been a gradual process of regeneration but the pace increased rapidly in the 1980s when many of the traditional industries closed and their sites were redeveloped for residential use. Tipton Through Time shows how the town has evolved into a new, green, post industrial landscape.