Kington is a market town, electoral ward and 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 Community", comparable to other close-by communities such as Presteigne definition "Priest's Town" and 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, that started a new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have been a quiet barony and also was connected with the office of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and also ran away the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, only to flee 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 office of Sheriff of Hereford, finally being provided to William de Braose, fourth Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle after that saw action in the Braose Wars versus King John of England and also was most likely to have actually been ruined by royal forces in August 1216. Within a few years a new fortress was begun and also the close-by Huntington Castle and Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a great outcrop of rock covered by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and Norman church in addition to a defensive hillside over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, situated on greater ground above the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high up on the hill over the town where St. Mary's Church now stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was laid out in between 1175 and 1230 ashore bordering the River Arrow as well as possibly assigned as part of the Saxon open field system. Located on the direct route the drovers took from Hergest Ridge and also with 8 yearly fairs, Kington expanded in value as a market community and also there is still a growing animals market on Thursdays. The town preserves 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 close-by Hergest Court, slain at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and also his partner, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as likewise that of the Black Dog of Hergest are stated to haunt the area around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's discovery reputedly presages fatality. It is likewise rumoured to have been the model for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have stayed at nearby Hergest Hall soon before he composed the book.