Editing Hendon (section)

===Church End===
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[[File:025521 claddagh ring.jpg|right|thumb|The Claddagh Ring pub.]]
[[File:White Bear, Hendon, NW4 (2554949620).jpg|thumb|The former White Bear pub]]
[[Hendon and District Archaeological Society]] has found a number of interesting Roman artifacts at Church End but nothing conclusive, and the [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] settlement near to [[St Mary's Church, Hendon|St Mary's Church]] may not be a continuation of its Roman predecessor. The [[Domesday]] Survey mentions a priest, and a church building was documented in 1157. The oldest fabric of the present church is 13th century. The 50&nbsp;ft tower (c1450) was much restored in the 18th century when the weathercock in the form of a "Lamb and Flag", the badge of St John, was added.

However, the church is dedicated to St Mary, an enigma that defies local historians to this day. It may be a sign of the (heretical) cult of Mary Magdalene said to have been promoted by the Templars and their successors.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} Eastern extensions carried out between 1913–15 to designs by architect Temple Moore have greatly expanded the church.

Sir [[Stamford Raffles]], founder of [[Singapore]] in 1819, died at his home in nearby [[Mill Hill]] and is buried in the church. Another grave of distinction in the churchyard is that of football manager [[Herbert Chapman]] who had great success in charge of [[Northampton Town F.C.|Northampton Town]], [[Leeds City F.C.|Leeds City]], [[Huddersfield Town F.C.|Huddersfield Town]] and finally [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] before his sudden death from pneumonia in 1934. [[Bram Stoker]] may well have had St Mary's graveyard in mind when he created the fictional "Kingstead", the uneasy resting place of [[Lucy Westenra]], in his book [[Dracula]]. However, St Mary's graveyard is also the resting place of a more benign spirit, [[Coventry Patmore]]'s wife Emily, the model for the poem [[The Angel in the House]] (1854), and upon whom the Victorian ideal of domesticity "the Angel of the Hearth" is based.

Adjacent to the church at the top of Greyhound Hill is the ''Greyhound'' pub, which was rebuilt in 1898. Originally called the Church House, it was used for vestry meetings from the 1600s to 1878. In 1676 the inn, by then known as the ''Greyhound'', burned down in a fire. In 1855 a fire brigade was established, renamed the Hendon volunteer fire brigade in 1866, and a manual [[Fire apparatus|fire engine]] was kept in a building near the church.

Further west, adjacent to the ''Greyhound'' pub, is the oldest building in Hendon, a 17th-century farmhouse which became the former [[Church Farmhouse Museum]] (1955–2011), now part of the campus of nearby [[Middlesex University]].

The ''Claddagh Ring'' pub, originally known as ''The Midland Arms'', in Church Road, Hendon, is somewhat more than nine miles from [[Athenry]] (see photo). The sign is genuinely Irish, giving pleasure to a significant [[Irish diaspora|Irish]] community in this area. Another pub, the ''Midland Hotel'', close to Hendon station, was opened in 1890 by The Midland Railway Company to provide liquid refreshment for commuters using the Midland Railway. At the time when both of these pubs were open ''The Midland Arms'' (''The Claddagh Ring'') was known as The Upper Midland and ''The Midland Hotel'' was known as The Lower Midland. The Irish connection with Hendon goes back at least to the early 19th century when many of that country came here to make the hay, for which Hendon was then famous.