KINGTON, or KINETON, a parish in the Kington division of the hundred of KINGTON, county of WARWICK, comprising the market-town of Kington, and the chapelry of Combrook, and containing 1071 inhabitants, of which number, 782 are in the town of Kington, 10 miles (S. S. E.) from Warwick, and 82 (N. W. by W.) from London. This place, which gives name to the hundred, is so called from its having been a royal residence. About a quarter of a mile to the south-west, on a spot still called Castle hill, was a castle, in which King John is said to have held his court, but there are no vestiges of the building, traces of the moat by which it was surrounded being the only discernible remains; the site is planted with trees, and at a short distance from the spot is a well called King John's well, the water of which, though very pure, possesses no remarkable qualities. The name Kineton, which is the more ancient, is thought by some to have been obtained from its having been at a very early period a considerable mart for cattle, or kine; by this name it was given by Henry I., to the monks of Kenilworth, and coming afterwards into the possession of Milo de Kineton, it was taken from him by Stephen, and restored to the monks. The memorable battle of Edgehill took place near this town, and within half a mile of it, a great quantity of bullets was dug up in 1800; about a mile further, on the road to Edgehill, is a place called Battle Farm, where several of the slain were interred; and in a field about a mile to the west of the town is a tumulus covering several hundred of them: a gold ring was found in the neighbourhood, and the skeletons of human bodies are frequently discovered. The town is irregularly built: the houses, in general ancient, are of stone, with thatched roofs, and bear some resemblance to the rudest features of the Elizabethan style; but in detached situations there are some handsome modern houses, built of stone and of brick: the inhabitants are amply supplied with water from wells; the air is salubrious, and the environs abound with pleasant walks. There is nq branch of trade or manufacture carried on, the inhabitants being principally employed in agriculture. The market, which has almost fallen into disuse, is on Tuesday, and was formerly very considerable for grain; the fairs are, February 5th, which formerly regulated the price of beans for seed, but is now very thinly attended} and October 2nd, which is principally a statute fair for the hiring of servants. The market-place is a small area in which is an old building, or rather a shed, supported on arches of brick, in one angle of which there is a small prison for the temporary confinement of offenders. A constable and head-borough are annually appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor, held in October. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £8. 6. 8., endowed with £200 private benefaction, £400 royal bounty, and £1400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of Lord Willoughby de Broke. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient cruciform structure, in the early and decorated styles of English architecture, with some remains of the later Norman style, and having a square embattled tower crowned with pinnacles, some of which are wanting; in the tower are windows of elegant tracery, and under the battlements is a band of antique heads and bosses. The western entrance is through a richlymoulded and deeply-receding arch, in the most finished style of later Norman architecture: the chancel was rebuilt in 1315, and the nave, aisles, and transepts in 1755; under an arch at the western extremity of the north aisle is the recumbent figure of a monk, removed from the chancel on the rebuilding of the church. A National school, in which forty boys and thirty girls are instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, is supported by subscription j and there is a small endowment in land for apprenticing poor boys. At Combrook, a chapelry in this parish, is a free school, with a house for the master.