Kington
Kington is a market town, electoral ward and also 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 stemmed from King's-ton, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Community", similar 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, yet ravaged. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the downfall of Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I provided 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 been a peaceful barony and was connected with the office of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, most likely the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and also ran away the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish military, only to take off from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the fantastic mirth of the Norman court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown as well as became an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, finally being given to William de Braose, fourth Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle then saw activity in the Braose Wars against King John of England and was most likely to have actually been damaged by royal forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a brand-new citadel was started as well as the nearby Huntington Castle and Kington Castle were deserted. All that stays of Kington Castle today is a great outcrop of rock covered 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, situated 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 capital over the town where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was laid out in between 1175 as well as 1230 on land surrounding the River Arrow and perhaps assigned as part of the Saxon open area system. Situated on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge as well as with eight yearly fairs, Kington grew in relevance as a market community as well as there is still a thriving animals market on Thursdays. The town keeps 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 nearby Hergest Court, killed at the Battle of Banbury 1469, as well as his wife, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as likewise that of the Black Dog of Hergest are claimed to haunt the area around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's discovery reputedly presages death. It is likewise rumoured to have actually been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is known to have actually stayed at close-by Hergest Hall quickly prior to he composed the story.
