Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for KINGTON

KINGTON, a small town, a township, a parish, and a sub-district, in the district of Presteigne and county of Hereford. The town stands on the river Arrow, at the terminus of the Leominster and Kington railway, amid a zone of steep wooded hills, 2½ miles E of the boundary with Wales, and 13 W by S of Leominster; had a castle for defence of the borders against the Welsh; was visited by Charles II., immediately before the battle of Worcester; had a barn theatre in which Mrs. Siddons made her first appearance on any stage; is a seat of petty sessions and county courts, and a polling place; consists chiefly of four well formed streets; presents a modern, clean, and respectable appearance; is much visited by strangers, for the sporting waters and the picturesque scenery in its neighbourhood; and has a head post office, ‡ a railway station, two banking offices, a chief inn, a market house, a police station, a church, three dissenting chapels, a free grammar school, national schools, a workhouse, and charities about £100. The church stands on an eminence; is in the early English style; comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with about 1, 200 sittings; and includes an ancient side chapel, surmounted by handsome tower and spire, and containing a fine alabaster tomb to the memory of Thomas Vaughan, Esq. The grammar school adjoins the church; was founded, in 1619, by Lady Hawkins; and has an endowed income of £225. A weekly market is held on Wednesday; and fairs are held on the Wednesday before 2 Feb., EasterWednesday, Whit-Monday, 2 Aug., 19 Sept., 11 Oct., and 25 Dec. Woollen cloth manufacture was formerly prominent, but is extinct; glove making also was important, but has much declined; and malting, tanning, nailmaking, and iron founding are now carried on.-The township contains the town; and is divided into New K. and Old K. Real property of New K., £7, 827, -of which £314 are on the railway, and £125 in gas works; of Old K., £1, 435. Pop. of the whole, in 1851, 1, 939; in 1861, 2, 178. Houses, 437.—The parish contains also the township of Both-Hergests, the t. of Lilwall, PembersOak, and Chickward, and the t. of Barton, Bradnor, and Rushock. Acres, 8, 313. Real property, £15, 585. Pop., 3, 076. Houses, 632. Bradnor Hill, immediately N of the town, is crowned by ancient remains, which have been regarded, by some antiquaries, as Drnidical; by others, as a link in a chain of forts along a considerable extent of frontier; by others, as an ancient camp debateably British, Roman, or Saxon. The living is a vicarage, united with the rectory of Hunnington, in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £520. * Patron, the Bishop of Worcester.—The sub-district contains also four other parishes. Acres, 24, 849. Pop., 6, 296. Houses, 1, 308.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small town, a township, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Kington CP/Tn/AP       Kington Urban CP       Kington SubD       Kington RegD/PLU       Herefordshire AncC
Place: Kington

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