Kington is a market community, selecting ward and also civil church 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", comparable to 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 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, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Before 1121 King Henry I provided Kington to Adam de Port, that established a new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have been a peaceful barony as well as was associated with the workplace of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, possibly the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as left the country. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, 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 as well as came to be an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, ultimately being provided to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle after that saw action in the Braose Wars versus King John of England as well as was most likely to have been ruined by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a new citadel was begun and also the nearby Huntington Castle and 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 clustered around the castle and also Norman church in addition to a defensive hill above the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on greater ground above the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill above 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 and potentially assigned as part of the Saxon open area system. Located on the direct route the drovers took from Hergest Ridge as well as with eight annual fairs, Kington expanded in value as a market community and also there is still a thriving livestock market on Thursdays. The community 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 neighboring Hergest Court, killed at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and his better 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 fatality. It is likewise rumoured to have been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have remained at close-by Hergest Hall quickly before he composed the story.