Located in the former cantref of Buellt (Builth) and historic county of Brecknockshire, the community includes the former parish of Llanfihangel Bryn Pabuan.

The parish has an area of slightly over 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) (about twenty square miles) and a scattered rural population of more than a thousand.

It is named after Saint Afan and was the centre of Cantref Buallt in ancient times, before the building of Builth Wells about 9 miles (14 km) away.

[6] The churchyard claims Saint Afan's relics and is also the burial place of Thomas Huet, who translated the Book of Revelation into the Welsh language in the 16th century.

Local folklore maintains that, while staying at the inn, Gerald learned of the miracle whereby the Anglo-Norman lord Philip de Braose was struck blind and saw his hunting dogs go mad when he disrespectfully used St Afan's church as a makeshift hostel one night.

Some say his sight was restored upon his pledge but Gerald records that he traveled to the Holy Land and fought blind, where he was "immediately struck down by a blow from a sword and so ended his life with honour".

[6] The vicarage for the church, formerly located beside the Afon Chwefru at the bottom of the hill, was named Persant (a corruption of Berth y Sanct, lit.