Kington
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 stemmed from King's-load, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", similar to other close-by towns such as Presteigne definition "Priest's Town" and also 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 gave Kington to Adam de Port, that started a new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have been a quiet barony as well as was connected with the office of sheriff of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and took off the country. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, only to get away from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the wonderful mirth of the Norman court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown as well as came to be an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, finally being given 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 likely to have actually been destroyed by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a new citadel was started as well as the neighboring Huntington Castle and also Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a fantastic outcrop of rock topped by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and Norman church on top of a defensive hill above the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on greater ground above the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Publication in 1086, the name meaning Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill over the community where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was set out in between 1175 as well as 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow and also possibly marked as part of the Saxon open field system. Located on the direct route the drovers took from Hergest Ridge and also with 8 annual fairs, Kington grew in relevance as a market community as well as there is still a thriving animals market on Thursdays. The town keeps the middle ages grid pattern of streets and also back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster tomb of Sir Thomas Vaughan of nearby Hergest Court, slaughtered at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and also his wife, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, and likewise that of the Black Dog of Hergest are stated to haunt the location around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's sighting reputedly presages fatality. It is additionally rumoured to have been the model for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have actually stayed at neighboring Hergest Hall shortly prior to he wrote the novel.
