A MUSEUM in Hendon is set to close at the end of the month after losing its annual funding from Barnet Council.

Church Farmhouse Museum in Greyhound Hill will close its doors before Friday April 1 when the council has decided its £126,000 annual funding will be withdrawn.

David Bicknell, chair of the Friends of Church Farmhouse Museum has posted a message on its website stating the decision was made despite over 2,000 people signing a petition against the cuts.

Speaking about the museum Mr Bicknell adds: “With minimal staffing and running costs compared to almost any other local authority museum and its wide range of exhibitions I do not think that any reasonable person could deny that Church Farmhouse Museum has given outstanding value first to the borough of Hendon and then to Barnet.

“It will be sorely missed by the thousands of people who visited it every year.”

However, Hendon & District Archaeological Society (HADAS) has said it “will continue the fight” to save the museum.

Don Cooper, chairman of the society said: “If it closes it will affect all of the people who live in the borough including schoolchildren.

“It’s terribly important to have a museum which specialises in our local area – it’s our cultural heritage.”

HADAS hopes to hand over a business plan to the council by the end of May and would set up a separate charitable trust and run the museum with the help of volunteers.

It is also considering setting up courses on ancient history and photography to gain income as well as housing some of its artefacts in the museum.

Over the years the society has gathered a number of items from around the borough including a Roman cremation urn found in Sunnyfields Road, Hendon.

However, Mr Cooper said HADAS still has to negotiate terms of the lease with the council and although the society could afford to spend between £4,000 and £5,000 a year it would still have to raise “a substantial amount”.

He said: “Hopefully we can get funds from local businesses and people who would like to contribute to the museum.

“It’s a lot of money for us, a small archaeological society but we are pressing on.”

A spokesman for the council said it has allowed a three month period for groups to put forward “robust business plans” and has arranged for the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council to help in the development of the plans.