Kington is a market community, electoral ward and 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 Town", comparable to various other nearby communities such as Presteigne meaning "Priest's Town" and also 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 ruined. After the Norman Conquest Kington then passed to the Crown on the downfall of Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I gave Kington to Adam de Port, who founded a brand-new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have actually been a peaceful barony and 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 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 ended up being an appurtenance of the workplace 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 against King John of England as well as was likely to have been ruined by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a new fortress was commenced and the nearby Huntington Castle as well as Kington Castle were deserted. All that stays of Kington Castle today is a terrific outcrop of rock topped by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and Norman church on top of a defensive hill above the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on greater ground over the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Publication in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high on capital above the town where St. Mary's Church now stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was laid out between 1175 and 1230 ashore bordering the River Arrow and also perhaps assigned as part of the Saxon open field system. Situated on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge and with eight yearly fairs, Kington grew in relevance as a market community and also there is still a growing livestock market on Thursdays. The town preserves the middle ages grid pattern of streets and also 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, killed at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and his wife, 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 discovery reputedly presages death. It is also rumoured to have been the model for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have stayed at close-by Hergest Hall soon before he composed the story.