Kington is a market town, electoral ward and 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 derived from King's-ton, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Community", comparable to other close-by towns such as Presteigne significance "Priest's Town" and also 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, yet ruined. After the Norman Conquest Kington then passed to the Crown on the failure of Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I gave Kington to Adam de Port, who established a new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have been a quiet barony and also was connected with the workplace of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as left the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, only to leave from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the fantastic mirth of the Norman court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown and came to be an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, finally being granted to William de Braose, fourth Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle then saw action in the Braose Wars versus King John of England as well as was most likely to have been ruined by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a new fortress was commenced and also the nearby Huntington Castle and also Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a fantastic outcrop of rock covered by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and also Norman church in addition to a protective hill over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, located on higher ground above the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name meaning Kings Town or Manor, high up on the hill over the town where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was outlined between 1175 as well as 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow and possibly designated as part of the Saxon open field system. Positioned on the direct route the drovers took from Hergest Ridge and with eight yearly fairs, Kington grew in importance as a market town and there is still a prospering livestock market on Thursdays. The town retains the medieval 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 nearby Hergest Court, killed at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and also his wife, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as also that of the Black Dog of Hergest are claimed to haunt the area around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's sighting reputedly presages fatality. It is also rumoured to have been the model for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have actually remained at neighboring Hergest Hall quickly prior to he wrote the novel.