In the late 16th century a miner acquired a lease of land bordering the royal Forest at Broadwell.

[1] A tramroad opened in 1812 to link mines in the Forest with Redbrook and Monmouth entered Coleford north of Broadwell.

[1] A mine, known in 1735 as Gentlemen Colliers, included a working pit at Littledean Lane End near Broadwell in 1835.

[2] 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.

[2] 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.