Kington is a market community, electoral ward and civil church in Herefordshire, England. According to the Church, the ward had a population of 3,240 while the 2011 census had a population of 2,626. The name 'Kington' is derived from King's-ton, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", comparable to various other nearby communities such as Presteigne definition "Priest's Town" as well as Knighton being "Knight's Town". Kington is to the west of Offa's Dyke so presumably this land was Welsh in the 8th century AD. The land was held by Anglo-Saxons in 1066, however ravaged. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the downfall of Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I provided Kington to Adam de Port, who established a new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have been a silent barony as well as was related to the office of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as got away the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, only to run away from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the terrific mirth of the Norman court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown and ended up being an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly being provided to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle after that saw activity in the Braose Wars against King John of England and also was likely to have been damaged by royal forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a new citadel was commenced and the neighboring Huntington Castle and Kington Castle were deserted. All that continues to be of Kington Castle today is a terrific outcrop of rock covered by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and Norman church in addition to a defensive hill above the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on higher ground above the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Publication in 1086, the name significance Kings Town or Manor, high up on the hill over the community where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was set out between 1175 and 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow and also possibly designated as part of the Saxon open area system. Positioned on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge and with 8 yearly fairs, Kington grew in value as a market community as well as there is still a thriving livestock market on Thursdays. The community preserves the medieval grid pattern of roads and back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster burial place of Sir Thomas Vaughan of neighboring Hergest Court, killed at the Battle of Banbury 1469, as well as his better half, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are claimed to haunt the area around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's sighting reputedly presages death. It is additionally rumoured to have actually been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is known to have actually stayed at neighboring Hergest Hall soon before he created the story.