Fielding Johnson Tale

          Once upon a time... there was a boy named Tom Johnson who lived in Leicester with his seven brothers and sisters. Tom was born into a wealthy family and was sent to the best private school in Leicester. Unfortunately, Tom had an evil, greedy aunt and uncle who had no children of their own and so adopted him when he was 12, in order to keep their money within the family. Tom was forced to change his name to Tom Fielding Johnson. Sadly, (being from a wealthy family) his life had been planned for him and he constantly had to suffer the whims of his aunt and uncle, and his mother and father, who all sought to use him as a pawn in their chess game of success and business. Tom became a very wealthy textile merchant, but he was never truly happy. Misfortune struck his life again and again; with the death of his first wife, then the death of his son, then the death of his second son from his second wife. Yes, these were hard times (the early 20th c) it always seems so at least. Never a break for these people.

          Tom, though very wealthy, was also a very generous philanthropist. His great contribution to the city of Leicester was the donation of 37 acres to the formation of a college and a school on asylum land. Yes... most of this property consisted of the Leicestershire Lunatic Asylum and the asylum grounds. The old asylum had seen deaths and tragedies, horrors and, on the whole, really really crazy people... For 70 years this building was a medical nightmare, until mysteriously, the patients and all who lived their vanished... Okay, they didn't vanish exactly. They were moved to another building, a new building, one without so much creepy history. Anyway, the building remained empty for 7 years, and wayward passersby swore they could still hear the screams of the patients and mad laughter floating from the empty corridors. Okay... maybe they did, maybe they didn't. There aren't technically any recorded accounts. But they probably did.

          Well, the building sat cold and forbearing, looming over the town and drowning the streets in shadows from its monstrous wings. No one dared to go near this haunted building, except actually they did, because kids would dare their friends... so yeah literally people were dared to go near it. Also, the army was fed up with all this "haunted" nonsense and to prove their bravery, they set up a medical ward for wounded soldiers inside those hallowed walls. Eventually, the building was actually used for its intended purpose and became part of the college, adopting the name: The Fielding Johnson Building. The College House, which was connected to the asylum, became the quarters for the college headmaster. Creepy. I wouldn't live there. But you know who did live there? Freddie Attenborough who had two sons; the nature documentary guy and the old guy from Jurassic Park (David and Dickie, respectively). Yes, David and Dickie had many adventures roaming the haunted campus. One time, Dickie locked David in one of the old padded cells that still remained from the building's past as a loony bin.

          Tom's old private school is now The New Walk Museum (Hooray for New Walk, it probably made a better private school). Tom was also given The Freedom of the City (whatever the hell that is) in a silver casket that is now housed within the museum. But in my opinion, why did he even get The Freedom of the City? He was probably scared shitless out of the prospect of owning an Insane Asylum and couldn't wait to get the thing off his hands. I know if I owned that property the first thing I would do is donate it to whatever fool I could convince that it wasn't haunted...

          Today, the Fielding Johnson Building consists of a bunch of offices including the Cashier's Office, the Registrar's Office, etc. etc... The University of Leicester would like to stress that the Fielding Johnson Building is now a very pleasant and comfortable working environment for University Staff... but I doubt it. I would be surprised if a disembodied voice wasn't heard at some point during the work day... or that the last worker to leave for the night doesn't shudder as they walk the silent, dark halls alone.