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 derived from King's-ton, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", comparable 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 devastated. 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, that founded a brand-new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have been a silent barony and also was connected with the office of sheriff of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, most likely the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as took off the country. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, just to take off 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 became an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly being granted to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle then saw activity in the Braose Wars versus King John of England and also was most likely to have actually been ruined by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a few years a new fortress was started as well as the nearby Huntington Castle as well as Kington Castle were abandoned. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a great outcrop of rock topped by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and Norman church in addition to a protective hillside over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on higher ground above the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name meaning Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill above the town where St. Mary's Church now stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was set out in between 1175 and also 1230 ashore surrounding the River Arrow and perhaps designated as part of the Saxon open field system. Situated on the direct route the drovers took from Hergest Ridge as well as with 8 yearly fairs, Kington grew in value as a market town as well as there is still a flourishing animals market on Thursdays. The town keeps 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 other half, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, and additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are claimed to haunt the area around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's sighting reputedly presages death. It is additionally rumoured to have been the model for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is known to have stayed at close-by Hergest Hall quickly before he composed the story.