The village owes its origins to the large slate quarries immediately to the north on the slopes of the Preseli Hills. Housing for the quarrymen forms a central feature of the village - the Terrace. With the construction of the Maenclochog Railway, linking the quarries with the main line railway at Clunderwen, the village became a focal point for services in the upland area north of Maenclochog. It continues to act as such for a mixed population working in agriculture and in nearby towns of Fishguard, Haverfordwest and Cardigan.

The Preseli Hotel and 'pleasure gardens' with fish ponds, built in the late 1870s in an attempt to attract tourists on the railway, still survive. The hotel is now generally known as Tafarn Sinc, due to the materials used in its construction - corrugated galvanised iron - and the fish ponds are a feature of the nearby Rosebush Caravan Park.

Tafarn Sinc was built in 1876, when the railway was opened from Clunderwen to Rosebush. It was built as an Hotel, and was called the 'Precelly Hotel'. In 1992 it was closed, it was in a bad state of repair, and the brewery who owned it, decided to sell it as a site suitable for building. It was bought by locals, Brian and Brenda Llewelyn, for £18,000. It was refurbished and re-named, 'Tafarn Sinc Preseli'. This pub has featured prominently in the historic and social life of the area, and its success today is due to the fact that this unique establishment is alive to the happy sound of the Welsh language.

Slate quarrying has long since ceased but tourism is once again at the heart of the village economy.