Human settlement in England
Kington is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,597.
Location
Kington is near the Wales-England border and, despite being on the western side of Offa's Dyke, has been English for over a thousand years. The town is in the shadow of Hergest Ridge, and on the River Arrow, where it is crossed by the A44 road. It is 21 miles north-west from Hereford. Nearby towns include Presteigne, Knighton and Leominster. There are panoramic views all round the town of the open countryside and surrounding hills.
Early origins and history
Kington is to the west of Offa's Dyke so presumably[citation needed] this land was Welsh in the 8th century CE. The land was held by Anglo-Saxons in 1066, but devastated. After the Norman Conquest Kington then passed to the Crown on the downfall of Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1075. Soon after 1086 and before 1108 the King gave Kington to Henry Port, who founded a new Marcher barony in this part of the early Welsh Marches. Kington seems to have been[citation needed] a quiet barony and was associated with the office of sheriff of Hereford. In 1072, Adam Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and fled the country. He returned in 1074 with a Scottish army, only to flee from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the great mirth of the Angevin court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown and became an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, finally being granted to William de Braose, 7th Baron Abergavenny in 1203 for £100. The castle then saw action in the Braose Wars against King John of England and was probably destroyed by royal forces in August 1216. Within a few years a new fortress was commenced at nearby Huntington Castle and Kington Castle was abandoned. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a great outcrop of rock topped by a few fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and Norman church on top of a defensive hill above the River Arrow. In the 13th century the new medieval town was formed at the foot of the hill and became primarily a wool-trading market town on an important drovers' road, and still thrives today.
Education
Sir Francis Drake's cousin Sir John Hawkins married, and in her will, Lady Hawkins left £800 to the town to establish a school.[1] The school is unique in having special permission from the Royal Navy to fly the Red Ensign on its foundress day.[2]
Transport
Sargeants Brothers was founded in the 1920s, providing bus services to Hereford and Mid Wales. No longer run by the brothers but their sons, the Sargeant family also own and run the Fleece Meadow Caravan and Camping site at the rear of Sargeants bus depot.
The Leominster and Kington Railway received royal assent in July 1854, and the 13 miles and 25 chain length opened to Kington in August 1857. Leased to the Great Western Railway from 1862, it was later amalgamated with it. Traffic rose during World War 2, with the US Army hospital camp at Hergest. Decline set in post the war, and it closed to passengers on 5th of February, 1955. Freight traffic ceased in 1964, after which the track was taken up and the line abandoned.
Local attractions and family businesses
Mike Oldfield lived at The Beacon, on Bradnor Hill near Kington, in the mid-1970s, the nearby Hergest Ridge inspiring the album of the same name. Oldfield turned parts of the house into a recording studio, where he recorded his 1975 album Ommadawn.
The butcher's shop in Kington was run by the Cresswell family until the late 1980s. Herbie Cresswell also ran the butchers shop in Madley and was a keen trotter at the Mid Wales harness racing association where he now has a Champion Cup in his name - The Herbie Cresswell Cup. The race is held at the Kington Show every summer. The Cresswell family also had butchers shops in Madley and Hereford. The Hussey family owned the local bakery for many generations in Kington. The bakery has now turned into a sports shop called Clubsport.
Kington has also been the host town for the Marin Rough Ride from 2003 until now.
Other meanings
Kington may have derived from King's-ton, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Town", similar to other nearby towns such as Presteigne meaning "Priest's Town" and Knighton being "Knight's Town".
