Kington
Kington is a market town, electoral ward and also civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the Parish, 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-lot, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", similar to various other neighboring 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, 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, who started a new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have actually been a silent barony and was related to the office of sheriff of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as fled the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, only to leave from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the great mirth of the Norman court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown and also ended up being an appurtenance of the workplace of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly being approved to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle then saw action in the Braose Wars versus King John of England and also was most likely to have been destroyed by royal forces in August 1216. Within a few years a new citadel was started and also the nearby Huntington Castle and Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a terrific outcrop of rock topped by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and Norman church in addition to a defensive hill above the River Arrow. St Mary's church, situated on higher ground above the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high up on the hill over the community where St. Mary's Church now stands. The brand-new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was outlined between 1175 and also 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow and also perhaps marked as part of the Saxon open field system. Located on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge as well as with 8 annual fairs, Kington grew in significance as a market town and there is still a flourishing livestock market on Thursdays. The community retains the middle ages grid pattern of roads and back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster tomb of Sir Thomas Vaughan of close-by Hergest Court, slain at the Battle of Banbury 1469, as well as his spouse, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, and additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are said to haunt the location around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's discovery reputedly presages death. It is also rumoured to have been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is known to have stayed at close-by Hergest Hall quickly prior to he composed the novel.