Kington is a market town, electoral ward and also 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 Community", comparable to various other neighboring towns such as Presteigne definition "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, however ravaged. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the failure of Roger de Breteuil, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I gave Kington to Adam de Port, that founded a new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have 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 as well as ran away the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, just to leave from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the terrific 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 approved 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 as well as was likely to have actually been damaged by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a few years a brand-new fortress was begun and also the nearby Huntington Castle and also Kington Castle were abandoned. All that continues to be of Kington Castle today is a fantastic outcrop of rock topped by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and Norman church on top of a protective hillside over 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 up on the hill over the town where St. Mary's Church now stands. The brand-new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was outlined between 1175 as well as 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow as well as potentially assigned as part of the Saxon open area system. Located on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge and with 8 yearly fairs, Kington expanded in importance as a market community as well as there is still a prospering animals market on Thursdays. The town maintains the middle ages 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, killed at the Battle of Banbury 1469, as well as his partner, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are said to haunt the area around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's discovery reputedly presages death. It is additionally rumoured to have actually been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have stayed at nearby Hergest Hall soon prior to he composed the novel.