Church Farmhouse Museum

A Grade II* listed 17th-century farmhouse stands in Hendon, part of the London Borough of Barnet. It is the oldest surviving dwelling in Hendon and shows typical Middlesex brickwork with three gables and tall chimneys. The building once belonged to the Kempe family for nearly a century and later to the Dunlop family for over seventy years. A blue plaque marks the childhood home of Mark Lemon, who grew up there between 1817 and 1823. His book Tom Moody’s Tales recalls early memories of the area. The museum once displayed two period rooms, a kitchen and scullery, plus two exhibition spaces and a garden with a pond. It closed in March 2011 after the council withdrew funding despite petitions signed by nearly three thousand people. The final exhibition focused on Harry Beck and his design of the London Tube map. Part of the collection moved to Barnet Museum and part was sold at auction. Today the building houses Middlesex University’s Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre. The university restored the farmhouse in 2016 and now uses it for research and teaching. The red brick walls and original layout remain largely intact. Visitors can still see the three gables and central chimneys from the outside.