HUNDREDS pass through the doors of the George's Cafe every week to enjoy a cup of tea and a bacon roll, not knowing of the building’s mystical past.

Little do customers at the unassuming little restaurant in Blythe Road realise that, above their heads, a little more than 100 years ago, lay the headquarters of a magical society.

There, Victorians summoned up ghosts and invoked elemental powers to lead the human spirit into a new age.

The story of number 36 Blythe Road is told in a new book, WB Yeats and the Secret Masters of the World.

It reveals the Irish poet Yeats’s connections with The Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn, which was founded in the building in 1888.

It was during the 20th Century that the Golden Dawn’s rituals and beliefs gradually entered the public domain, firing the imaginations and spiritual curiosity of generations long after its heyday.

Several modern groups claim to have inherited a genuine magical tradition through the society, the name of which is still used by a Greek far-right movement.

The building draws enthusiasts from around the globe, and tourists can often be found taking photographs, much to the bemusement of diners.

Author and teacher Peter Jennings said Yeats – who had a lifelong obsession with occultism, mysticism and astrology – became so ingrained in the society that he ended up practically running it.

“As I found out more about his non-literary deeds, I realised how little is generally known about our famous writers,” said Mr Jennings, who lives in Winchester.

“He was a grade A magician right to the end of his life and magic was practised in the society to an extent unique in modern times.”

Mr Jennings finds it strange the building’s significance has not been formally recognised. “It is a place of special social and cultural interest,” he added.

“The days of the blue plaque may be over but the building’s association with well-known figures like Yeats surely justifies some visible mark of its importance.

“As the friendly and knowledgeable staff at George’s Cafe will tell you, the address annually receives visitors from all over the world, some simply curious, others motivated by academic, literary or even spiritual interests.

“It would be nice to see this building, so ordinary to look at but with such a fascinating past, take its rightful place in Hammersmith and Kensington’s rich heritage.”

WB Yeats and the Secret Masters of the World, by PR Jennings is published by Peter Fludde and Partners.