Kington
Kington is a market community, selecting 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 originated from King's-load, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", similar to various other neighboring towns such as Presteigne meaning "Priest's Town" and Knighton being "Knight's Town". Kington is to the west of Offa's Dyke so probably 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 then passed to the Crown on the failure of Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I provided Kington to Adam de Port, who started a brand-new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have actually been a peaceful barony as well as was related to the office of sheriff of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, possibly the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as ran away the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, just to leave 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 and became an appurtenance of the workplace of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly being approved to William de Braose, 4th 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 been ruined by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a few years a new citadel was begun as well as the close-by Huntington Castle and also Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a wonderful outcrop of rock covered by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and Norman church on top of a defensive hillside over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, located on greater ground above the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high up on the hill above the town 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 perhaps assigned as part of the Saxon open field system. Situated on the direct route the drovers extracted from Hergest Ridge as well as with eight annual fairs, Kington grew in significance as a market community as well as there is still a prospering livestock market on Thursdays. The community preserves the medieval grid pattern of roads as well as back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster tomb of Sir Thomas Vaughan of neighboring Hergest Court, slain at the Battle of Banbury 1469, as well as his other half, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, and also that of the Black Dog of Hergest are said to haunt the area 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 close-by Hergest Hall quickly before he composed the book.
