Kington is a market town, electoral ward as well as 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 originated from King's-lot, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", similar to various other close-by communities such as Presteigne meaning "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, yet ruined. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the downfall of Roger de Breteuil, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I gave Kington to Adam de Port, who established a brand-new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have actually been a quiet barony and also was related to the workplace of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, most likely the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as left the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, only to get away 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 came to be an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly being granted to William de Braose, fourth Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle after that saw action in the Braose Wars against King John of England and also was likely to have been ruined by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a few years a brand-new citadel was started and the nearby Huntington Castle and also Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a great outcrop of rock covered by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle as well as Norman church on top of a defensive hillside over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on higher ground over the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name meaning Kings Town or Manor, high on capital above the community where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The brand-new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was laid out in between 1175 and also 1230 on land surrounding the River Arrow and also potentially marked as part of the Saxon open field system. Situated on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge and with 8 yearly fairs, Kington grew in relevance as a market town as well as there is still a flourishing livestock market on Thursdays. The town maintains the middle ages grid pattern of streets as well as 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, as well as his other half, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as likewise that of the Black Dog of Hergest are claimed to haunt the area around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's sighting reputedly presages death. It is additionally rumoured to have been the model for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is known to have actually stayed at neighboring Hergest Hall soon before he created the novel.