Kington
Kington is a market town, electoral 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 derived from King's-lot, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Community", similar to other neighboring communities such as Presteigne significance "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, 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. Prior To 1121 King Henry I offered Kington to Adam de Port, who started a new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have actually been a silent barony and was connected with the office of sheriff of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as took off the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, just to run away 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 office of Sheriff of Hereford, finally being granted 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 was likely to have been ruined by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a few years a new citadel was begun and also the neighboring Huntington Castle as well as Kington Castle were abandoned. All that stays of Kington Castle today is a wonderful outcrop of rock topped by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and also Norman church in addition to a protective hill above the River Arrow. St Mary's church, located on greater ground above the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Publication in 1086, the name meaning Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill over the community where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The brand-new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was outlined in between 1175 as well as 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow and also potentially marked as part of the Saxon open field system. Positioned on the direct route the drovers extracted from Hergest Ridge as well as with 8 annual fairs, Kington expanded in relevance as a market town and also there is still a growing livestock market on Thursdays. The town keeps the medieval grid pattern of streets and back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster tomb of Sir Thomas Vaughan of nearby Hergest Court, slaughtered at the Battle of Banbury 1469, as well as his other half, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, and additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are claimed to haunt the location around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's sighting reputedly presages death. It is likewise rumoured to have been the model for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is known to have actually remained at nearby Hergest Hall shortly prior to he composed the story.