Porthgain was the industrial hub of Pembrokeshire

In the 19th Century Porthgain was the hub of the county's building industry exporting slate, bricks and road stones.

It has now been made a conservation area by the park authority.

Visitors can still find the harbour side brickworks and other buildings but little has been done in the past to prevent them crumbling away.

These days, the only working quarry in the region is at Cilfach and Porthgain largely depends on fishing and tourism as its main sources of income.

Slates, bricks and road stones were exported in the 19th Century.

By making the village one of 14 conservation areas within the park, the authority wants to preserve Porthgain's heritage.

Villagers will now be consulted on the plans at an open meeting next month.

In the 19th Century there were many small slate quarries in north Pembrokeshire, and although not on the scale of their counterparts in north Wales, they were important employers in their time.

Slate and bricks from Porthgain were transported all over Pembrokeshire and beyond, mainly by sea as the brickworks were built at the cliffface of the harbour.

One of the oldest buildings in Porthgain, the Sloop Inn, dates back to 1743 and shows there must have been thriving seafaring community going back to at least that date.

Bar manager, Morgan Miles, said it was important that Porthgain's industrial heritage was preserved.

Little has been done in the past to stop the buildings crumbling away

He said: "It's part of the history of the village and it reminds people of how it was here.

"It shows how hard it was at the time for people to work in the quarries - for people who visit the area and the young brought up in the village."

While supportive of efforts to preserve Porthgain's heritage, he said it was important the character was not altered.

"We would like to keep it more or less as it is as we don't like things to change much here," he added.