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Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, northwest London 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Greater London since 1965. Hendon falls almost entirely within the NW4 postcode, while the West Hendon part falls in NW9. Colindale to the northwest was once considered part of Hendon but is today separated by the M1 motorway.
The district is most famous for the London Aerodrome which later became the RAF Hendon; from 1972 the site of the RAF station was gradually handed over to housing development and to the RAF Museum. The railways reached Hendon in 1868 with Hendon station on the Midland Main Line, followed by the London Underground further east under the name Hendon Central in 1923. Brent Street emerged as its commercial centre by the 1890s. A social polarity was developed between the uphill areas of Hendon and the lowlands around the railway station.
The Royal Air Force Museum has vintage aircraft, flight simulators, and a 4D cinema. The Allianz Park sports complex is the home ground of the Saracens rugby union team, and has an athletics track. Sunny Hill Park has walking paths, sports pitches, and a cafe. Kosher shops and restaurants cluster along Brent Street, with global dining around Hendon Central Station.
The name means the high place or down, and Hendon's motto is Endeavour. Hendon was historically a civil parish in the hundred of Gore, county of Middlesex. The manor is described in Domesday (1087), but the name 'Hendun' – meaning 'at the highest hill' – is of earlier origin. Evidence of Roman settlement was discovered by members of the Hendon and District Archaeological Society and others; an urn burial of a headless child was found in Sunny Hill Park.
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