The Clockfields was originally woodland and meadow prior to being extensively mined for decades, many people still have fond childhood memories of playing in the fields and the wildlife and nature that existed before the mining. The name was known to have originated from the Clock House below near the entrance of the estate which was sadly demolished in the 1960s and has since been replaced by a new house.

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• 1988 After a long history of the land being used for mining (similar to other areas nearby such as Withymoor) approval was given to Wrekin Homes to build on the site.

• Mid to late 1990s - A number of houses subsided and were subsequently demolished. Residents on the estate at the time recall them sinking down to the bottom of the front windows.

• In the late 1990s after land stability issues a report by Lomax and Lomax suggested changing the location of the green space and play area on the estate from one side to the other, building instead on the area adjacent to Coalbourne Brook on the West side of the estate.

• In 2000 the council approved a land use change for the East side of the estate next to the canal (P00/51751) at the end of Culverhouse Drive and Silvester Way to become woodland and open space with the tree planting done as part of the Black Country Urban Forest

• In 2009 the developers Wrekin Construction went into administration following the discovery of a forged ruby valuation being used to inflate accounts by millions - see here

• 19th May 2011 - The land on the estate went to auction with a guide price of £10k and sold to the current land owner, Kishore Balu (Director of Masterfreight in Oldbury) for £16k

• In 2011 also as a result of the sale and to safeguard against development a Tree Preservation Order was applied on all the trees in the green spaces on the estate (TPO/0042/AMB)

• In 2017 Mr Balu made two planning applications, one to build houses at the end of Culverhouse Drive which was withdrawn due to land stability concerns (P17/0317) and another to built a house at the canal end of Silvester Way (P17/0318) which was refused for being adjacent to a SLINC and Highway Issues.

• In 2019 After ground investigation drilling, Mr Balu made another application to build at the end of Culverhouse Drive, P19/0185, which was withdrawn again due to land stability concerns.

• In 2021 Mr Balu started a new application for the end of Culverhouse Drive, P21/0006, following some further ground investigation work which subsequently confirmed the presence of an underground opencast highwall (The unexcavated face of exposed overburden and coal or ore in an opencast mine, or the face or bank on the uphill side of a contour strip mine excavation) which requires special measures to be able to build on and can destabilise the adjacent land.

• On 25th May 2022 the application was refused by a planning committee at the council. Neither Mr Balu or his agent attended and the councillors all voted against the application aside from one who chose not to vote. Presentations were made to the council by both the councillor and a resident.

• On 22nd September 2022 Dudley Council approved the designation of the land between the estate and the canal as a SLINC (Site of Local Interest for Nature Conservation) at a cabinet meeting.

• On the 18th November 2022, Mr Balu raised an Appeal to the Secretary of State just days before the 6 month allowed period for doing so had ended. This appeal requires objections to be made by the 2nd March 2023 with an appointed Inspector due to visit the site and make a decision on the appeal.

• On 24th April 2023 the appeal on P21/0006 for 3 houses was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate