Broadwell has had a long history of
coal mining. In the late 16th century a miner acquired a lease of land bordering the royal Forest at Broadwell. A tramroad opened in 1812 to link mines in the Forest with
Redbrook and
Monmouth entered Coleford north of Broadwell. The
British Land Society laid out new roads north of Broadwell Farm in 1859 and several houses had been built on them by the late 1870s. In 1886 a
fife and
drum band was based at Broadwell. Broadwell's memorial hall, built in 1921, housed a library in 1955. A social club next to the hall was enlarged after 1959. Broadwell also had a football ground by 1959. Many of Broadwell's 20th-century houses were provided by
West Dean Rural District Council, which between 1923 and 1934 built 44 east of the Five Acres road, and in 1948 filled the area to the south with prefabricated bungalows, most of which were replaced later in the century. Additional housing estates were added in the 1950s and 60s. ==Parish church==