Kington is a market town, electoral ward and also 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 stemmed from King's-heap, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", similar to other neighboring communities such as Presteigne significance "Priest's Town" and Knighton being "Knight's Town". Kington is to the west of Offa's Dyke so most likely this land was Welsh in the 8th century AD. The land was held by Anglo-Saxons in 1066, but devastated. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the failure of Roger de Breteuil, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I provided Kington to Adam de Port, that established a new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have been a peaceful barony and was associated with the workplace of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, possibly the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and also ran away the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, only to flee 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 also came to be an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, ultimately being granted to William de Braose, fourth Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle then saw action in the Braose Wars against King John of England and also was most likely to have actually been destroyed by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a few years a brand-new citadel was begun as well as the neighboring Huntington Castle and Kington Castle were abandoned. All that stays of Kington Castle today is a wonderful outcrop of rock covered by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and also Norman church on top of a defensive hill over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on greater ground over the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Publication in 1086, the name significance Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill over the community where St. Mary's Church now stands. The brand-new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was set out in between 1175 and 1230 ashore bordering the River Arrow as well as perhaps marked as part of the Saxon open area system. Situated on the direct route the drovers took from Hergest Ridge as well as with eight annual fairs, Kington expanded in importance as a market community and there is still a growing livestock market on Thursdays. The town keeps the middle ages grid pattern of roads as well as back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster tomb of Sir Thomas Vaughan of close-by Hergest Court, killed at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and his better half, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are stated to haunt the location around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's discovery reputedly presages fatality. It is also rumoured to have actually been the model for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have remained at nearby Hergest Hall quickly prior to he composed the novel.