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Kington

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"KINGTON, a parish in the hundred of HUNTINGTON, county of HEREFORD, comprising the market town of Kington, and the townships of Barton and Bradnor with Rustrock, Chickward and Pembers-Oak with Lilwall, and Both-Hergists, and containing 2813 inhabitants, of which number, 1980 are in the town of Kington, 19 miles (W.N.W.) from Hereford, and 154 (W. by N.) from London. The town, which is of considerable antiquity, is situated on the hanks of the river Arrow, and consists of two spacious streets. Charles II. is said to have visited it prior to the fatal battle of Worcester, and to have slept at an inn then called the Lion, but now the Talbot. ...  The manufacture of woollen cloth, which was formerly carried on very extensively, has entirely ceased; and glove-making, which, until a very recent period, furnished employment to a considerable number of the inhabitants, has much declined: there is an iron-foundry and nail manufactory, established in 1815, in which about one hundred persons are employed. A rail-road has been constructed from the foundry to Brecon, joining the canal at Newport. An act of parliament was obtained, in 1791, for making a canal from Kington, by Leominster, to join the Severn at Stourport; but it has been left unfinished for want of capital. There is a good market for provisions on Wednesday: fairs are held on Whit-Monday, August 2nd, and September 19th, and annual cattle markets take place on the Wednesdays previously to February 2nd, Easter Sunday, Old Michaelmas- day, October llth, and Christmas-day. ...  The county magistrates hold here petty sessions for the hundreds of Huntington and Wigmore every Friday. A court for the recovery of debts under 40s. is held once in three weeks. The living is a vicarage, with the curacies of Brilley, Huntington, and Michaelchurch, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's books at £25. 2. 11., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Hereford. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient structure. Here are places of worship for Baptists andWesleyan Methodists. A free grammar school was founded pursuant to the will of Lady Hawkins, who, in 1619, bequeathed money for the purchase of an estate producing £224. 10. per annum,  ...  the school is open to the children of Kington, Brilley, Huntington, and Michaelchurch, and the present number of free scholars is forty-two.  ..." [From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England  (1831) ©Mel Lockie]

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Bibliography

  • Edwards, W - Memories of Kington. ©1997 Kington History Society. ISBN 0 9531103 0 3
    A reprint of the 'recollections' of Mr W. Edwards, born in Spond, Kington in 1855, first published in the Kington Times in 1938. Here is one quite delicious quote, suggesting that whilst times might have changed, some things stay the same...
    "In the sixties there were several changes in the costumes of men and women. For two seasons 1864-5 there were very hot summers, and the men wore all-white suits, called the French fashion. The women continued to wear a number of petticoats reaching their boot-tops. Then they adopted the never-to-be-forgotten cane or steel springing crinolines. I must mention Lucy Walters and her sister as the most notable girls, tall and good-looking, from the Broken Bank, daughters of old William Walters. They were called Broad Gauge and Narrow Gauge, and Lucy needed all the roadway. On a windy day it was a common sight to see these wide crinolines blow over girls' heads, to the delight and yells of joy from the children." [Extract from Article 7. 'More from the 1860's', pp39-46.]
    The Kington History Society may be contacted c/o the Kington Library, 68 Bridge Street, Kington, Herefordshire, HR5 3DJ.
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Description & Travel

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Gazetteers

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SO298566 (Lat/Lon: 52.203399, -3.029051), Kington which are provided by: