Kington
Kington is a market town, electoral ward and also civil parish 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-bunch, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Community", similar to various other neighboring towns such as Presteigne significance "Priest's Town" as well as 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 ravaged. After the Norman Conquest Kington then passed to the Crown on the failure of Roger de Breteuil, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Before 1121 King Henry I offered Kington to Adam de Port, who started a new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have actually been a peaceful barony and was related to the office of sheriff of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and also left the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, only to flee 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 came to be an appurtenance of the workplace 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 and also was likely to have actually been ruined by royal forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a brand-new fortress was begun and also the neighboring Huntington Castle and Kington Castle were abandoned. All that remains of Kington Castle today is an excellent outcrop of rock topped by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and also Norman church in addition to a protective hillside above the River Arrow. St Mary's church, located on higher ground over the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill over the town where St. Mary's Church now stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was set out in between 1175 and also 1230 ashore bordering the River Arrow as well as possibly marked as part of the Saxon open field system. Located on the direct route the drovers took from Hergest Ridge and also with eight yearly fairs, Kington expanded in value as a market town and also there is still a growing animals market on Thursdays. The town keeps the middle ages grid pattern of roads and also 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, and also his better half, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as likewise that of the Black Dog of Hergest are claimed to haunt the location around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's sighting reputedly presages death. It is also rumoured to have actually been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have actually remained at nearby Hergest Hall shortly before he composed the novel.
