Kington is a market community, electoral ward as well as 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 stemmed from King's-load, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Community", similar to various other nearby towns such as Presteigne definition "Priest's Town" and also 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, however devastated. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the failure of Roger de Breteuil, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Before 1121 King Henry I offered Kington to Adam de Port, who established a brand-new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have been a peaceful barony as well as was connected with the workplace of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, possibly the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled as well as 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 and came to be an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly being approved 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 damaged by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a few years a brand-new citadel was commenced and also the nearby Huntington Castle and Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is an excellent outcrop of rock covered by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle as well as Norman church on top of a defensive hill over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on greater ground above the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Publication in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high up on the hill above the community where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The brand-new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was set out in between 1175 and 1230 ashore surrounding the River Arrow as well as potentially designated as part of the Saxon open field system. Situated on the direct route the drovers extracted from Hergest Ridge and with 8 annual fairs, Kington expanded in relevance as a market town and there is still a thriving livestock market on Thursdays. The community maintains the medieval grid pattern of streets as well as 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, and likewise that of the Black Dog of Hergest are said to haunt the location around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's discovery reputedly presages death. It is additionally rumoured to have actually been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have actually stayed at nearby Hergest Hall soon prior to he composed the story.