Ghostly goings on spooking visitors and staff at Maidstone Museum could be linked to the building’s past – according to a self-confessed sceptic.

Diners at the St Faith’s Street site’s cafe have complained about banging coming from under the floor and a voice repeatedly saying ‘Pyewacket’, the name of a civil war era spirit.

Crockery and furniture are said to have mysteriously moved and one retired soldier reported he suddenly felt ice cold in the room.

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Reports of the noises started a few months ago and, after investigating, catering development manager Phil Long uncovered a large void under the floor.

The 38-year-old said: “We had customers complaining and colleagues and myself had heard banging and a voice saying what sounded like ‘pie whack it.’ At first I thought I was losing my marbles because it sounds a bit like a culinary term.

“Other people have heard the same noises and we’d come in to find parts of the cafe had been rearranged. We’d also see bits of crockery shifting around on the bar and when we checked to see if water or anything was making them slide there was nothing.”

There have been unexplained electrical issues in the room recently and when one sceptical colleague said pyewacket a packet of crisps fell from a stand.

The Battle of Maidstone, one of the civil war’s most violent exchanges, came to an end just metres away from the museum in what is now Brenchley Gardens and Mr Long thinks it may be linked to today’s events.

But while the museum’s official line is that the building is not haunted and although Mr Long describes himself as a sceptic, he is considering bringing in a paranormal investigator.

He added: “It gets to the point where there’s one coincidence after another and you can’t ignore what you’ve heard or seen. There are people that are quite scared of it.”

These are not the first supernatural events at the museum – a painting named Flora, The Gypsy Girl is said to bring overwhelming sadness to those who truly appreciate art.

Pyewacket's past

Pyewacket was a ‘familiar spirit’ detected by self-proclaimed Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins in his home town of Manningtree, Essex, in 1644.

It is claimed after being deprived of sleep for four nights, a local woman who had been arrested on suspicion of being a witch named 10 familiars – beings which assist with magic.
These included five imps, of which Pyewacket was one, and a long-legged greyhound with an ox’s head, called Vinegar Tom.

A 16th century painting hanging elsewhere in Maidstone Museum, above, bears striking similarities to Vinegar Tom, depicting a greyhound sniffing at what looks like an oxe's head.

Pyewacket is also the name of a witch’s cat in the 1958 film Bell, Book and Candle.

Hopkins and colleague John Stearne were responsible for the executions of 300 women during their three-year careers, 60% of all ‘witches’ killed in England.

The pair operated at the height of the English Civil War, which pitted parliamentarians against royalists in a series of bloody battles.

Phil Long explains what has been going on at the museum