Kington is a market community, electoral ward and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the Church, 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-bunch, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", comparable to various other neighboring communities such as Presteigne definition "Priest's Town" as well as Knighton being "Knight's Town". Kington is to the west of Offa's Dyke so presumably this land was Welsh in the 8th century AD. The land was held by Anglo-Saxons in 1066, but devastated. After the Norman Conquest Kington then passed to the Crown on the downfall of Roger de Breteuil, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I provided Kington to Adam de Port, who started a new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have been a quiet barony and also was connected with the workplace of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, most likely the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and ran away the country. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, 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 ended up being an appurtenance of the workplace of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly being granted to William de Braose, fourth 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 actually been destroyed by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a new citadel was started and also the close-by Huntington Castle as well as Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a great outcrop of rock topped by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and also Norman church on top of a protective hill over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on higher ground above the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Publication in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill over the town where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was outlined in between 1175 as well as 1230 ashore bordering the River Arrow as well as potentially marked as part of the Saxon open area system. Situated on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge and also with 8 annual fairs, Kington grew in relevance as a market town and there is still a thriving livestock market on Thursdays. The town preserves the medieval grid pattern of streets and back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster burial place of Sir Thomas Vaughan of close-by Hergest Court, slain at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and also his better half, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are stated to haunt the location around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's discovery reputedly presages death. It is additionally rumoured to have been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have actually remained at neighboring Hergest Hall shortly before he wrote the story.