Kington is a market community, selecting 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-ton, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", comparable to other neighboring communities such as Presteigne definition "Priest's Town" as well as 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, yet ravaged. After the Norman Conquest Kington then passed to the Crown on the failure of Roger de Breteuil, second Earl of Hereford in 1075. Before 1121 King Henry I gave Kington to Adam de Port, that founded a brand-new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have actually been a quiet barony and also was associated with the office of sheriff of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, possibly the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and also left the nation. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, only to take off from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the great mirth of the Norman court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown and became an appurtenance of the workplace of Sheriff of Hereford, lastly 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 been destroyed by imperial forces in August 1216. Within a few years a brand-new fortress was started and the close-by Huntington Castle and also Kington Castle were deserted. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a fantastic outcrop of rock covered by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town gathered around the castle and also Norman church on top of a protective hillside over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, located on greater ground over the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name definition Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill above the town where St. Mary's Church currently stands. The brand-new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was laid out in between 1175 and 1230 ashore bordering the River Arrow as well as potentially designated as part of the Saxon open field system. Positioned on the direct route the drovers extracted from Hergest Ridge and also with eight annual fairs, Kington grew in importance as a market community as well as there is still a growing livestock market on Thursdays. The community retains the middle ages grid pattern of roads and also back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster burial place of Sir Thomas Vaughan of neighboring Hergest Court, killed at the Battle of Banbury 1469, and his spouse, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are stated to haunt the location around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's discovery reputedly presages death. It is also rumoured to have been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is known to have remained at nearby Hergest Hall shortly before he composed the story.