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-bunch, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Community", similar to various other close-by communities such as Presteigne meaning "Priest's Town" and 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 devastated. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the downfall 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 early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have actually been a quiet barony as well as was related to the workplace of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, possibly the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and also fled the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, just to take off 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 workplace of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly being provided to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle after that saw activity in the Braose Wars versus King John of England and also was likely to have been destroyed by royal forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a brand-new citadel was begun and also the neighboring Huntington Castle as well as Kington Castle were deserted. All that continues to be of Kington Castle today is a wonderful outcrop of rock covered by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and also 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 definition Kings Town or Manor, high up on capital above the community where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was set out in between 1175 and 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow and also possibly designated as part of the Saxon open field system. Situated on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge and with eight yearly fairs, Kington expanded in importance as a market community as well as there is still a prospering livestock market on Thursdays. The town keeps the medieval grid pattern of roads and also 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, and also his wife, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are said 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 known to have remained at neighboring Hergest Hall quickly before he created the book.