Sir Bernard de Gomme (1620 – 23 November 1685) was a Dutch military engineer. By some he is considered the most important figure in 17th-century English military engineering.

Early life

De Gomme was born in

Terneuzen Terneuzen () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland. History First mentione ...

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

as the son of Maria Huybrechts He afterwards accompanied

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

to England, and was knighted by Charles I. He served with conspicuous ability in the royalist army as engineer and quartermaster-general from June 1642 to May 1646, leaving England after the 1646 defeats of the

first English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point b ...

. His plan of the fortifications and castle of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, dated 1644, is preserved in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

Return to Netherlands

In 1646, Gomme returned to the Netherlands, where he worked as civil engineer, amongst others at the construction of

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

s in Flanders. On 15 June 1649, Gomme received a commission from Charles II, then at

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

, to be quartermaster-general of all forces to be raised in England and Wales. On 16 September 1654 at Middelburg he married Catharina van Deynse, widow of Johannes Beverland, by whom he had a daughter, Anna. Gomme was present as military engineer at the Battle of the Dunes near

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

in 1658. After the

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

he was restored to favour in England and was appointed there ''Surveyor-General of Fortifications'' in 1660. A collection of 63 drawings by De Gomme of fortified towns in the Low Countries (The Netherlands and Flanders) is now kept in the British Library in London.

Restoration

In March 1661 he was promoted to engineer-in-chief of all the king's castles and fortifications in England and Wales. Among his first tasks were the repairs of

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

pier, the erection of fortifications at

, and the surveying of Tilbury Fort. In August 1665 instructions were given for making the fortifications at Portsmouth according to the plans prepared by Gomme. On 14 November of the same year the king directed him to give his assistance to commissioners for making the

Cam Cam or CAM may refer to: Science and technology * Cam (mechanism), a mechanical linkage which translates motion * Camshaft, a shaft with a cam * Camera or webcam, a device that records images or video In computing * Computer-aided manufacturin ...

navigable, and establishing a communication with the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

. Three days later he received a commission to build a new

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

on the Hoe of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. In March 1667, he accompanied the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

, which it was proposed to entrench completely all round. On returning to London he was summoned to give advice for fortifying the

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, as well as Harwich. After the raid by fellow Dutchman Michiel de Ruyter in 1667 on the Medway, De Gomme was asked to help with the fortification of Sheerness, to stop a raid like that from happening again. In 1673 and 1675 he was making surveys about

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. A reference to Gomme's ''design of building a fort-royal on the strand near Ringsend,'' in the neighbourhood of Dublin, occurs in the report of the elder Sir Jonas Moore, surveyor-general of ordnance, drawn up in 1675. In July 1682, Gomme was appointed surveyor-general of ordnance. He died in London on 23 November 1685, and was buried on the 30th of that month in the chapel of the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. He left liberal legacies to the Dutch Church in London and to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

. After Katherine's death, Gomme had remarried, by licence dated 15 October 1667, Catherine Lucas of Bevis Marks, a widow of fifty who died a few weeks before him, and was also buried in the Tower chapel, 19 October 1685.

Gallery of work

File:Tilbury fort water gate.jpg, Water Gate, Tilbury Fort File:Tilbury fort ravelin.jpg, Ravelin, Tilbury Fort File:The Moat, Tilbury Fort, Tilbury, Essex - geograph.org.uk - 26774.jpg, The Moat, Tilbury Fort File:Tilbury Fort, Tilbury Riverside, Essex - geograph.org.uk - 26773.jpg, Interior, Tilbury Fort File:Tilbury fort river battery.jpg, River Battery, Tilbury Fort File:Royal Citadel main gate.jpg, Main gate, The Royal Citadel Plymouth File:The Royal Citadel, Plymouth from Mount Batten.jpg, The Royal Citadel Plymouth

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomme, Bernard De 1620 births 1685 deaths Cavaliers Dutch military engineers Dutch people of the Eighty Years' War (United Provinces) People from Terneuzen Royalist military personnel of the English Civil War