Kington is a market community, 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-heap, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Community", comparable to other nearby communities such as Presteigne definition "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, but devastated. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the downfall of Roger de Breteuil, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Before 1121 King Henry I offered Kington to Adam de Port, that started a new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have actually been a peaceful barony and was connected with the office of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, possibly the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and also took off the country. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, only to get away from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the excellent mirth of the Norman court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown as well as came to be an appurtenance of the workplace of Sheriff of Hereford, finally being given to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle then saw action in the Braose Wars against King John of England as well as was likely to have actually been damaged by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a brand-new citadel was commenced as well as the nearby Huntington Castle and also Kington Castle were deserted. All that stays of Kington Castle today is a wonderful outcrop of rock covered by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and also Norman church on top of a protective hill above the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on higher ground over the town centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Publication in 1086, the name significance Kings Town or Manor, high up on the hill above the community where St. Mary's Church now stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was laid out between 1175 and 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow and possibly designated as part of the Saxon open area system. Situated on the direct route the drovers took from Hergest Ridge and also with 8 yearly fairs, Kington grew in importance as a market community and there is still a prospering livestock market on Thursdays. The town preserves the medieval grid pattern of roads and back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster burial place of Sir Thomas Vaughan of nearby Hergest Court, slain at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and also his wife, 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 fatality. It is additionally rumoured to have been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is known to have remained at close-by Hergest Hall soon before he created the book.