| More information : (SZ 588993) Fort Gomer (NAT) (1)
Fort Gomer built 1852-57. (2)
Fort Gomer. Now demolished. (3)
Following the turmoil in Europe ca.1850, attention was focused on the weakness of the Stokes Bay redoubts and the Gosport flanks, as a result of which the new forts at Gomer and Elson (SU 50 SE 25) were constructed. These were both early representations of the 'polygonal' form of fortification and the earliest built in England. The idea was that the enceinte of individual forts was composed of straight lines of parapet and a deep ditch flanked by caponiers (bomb-proof galleries) projecting into it. This 'Prussian System' dispensed with defensive barriers linking each fort, the individual forts providing mutual support.
Just as Gomer and Elson were nearing completion, the Royal Commission on the defences of the United Kingdom visited the Portsmouth area in 1859. The French had laid down their first Ironclad, the `La Goire' in 1858, which made Britains' 'wooden-walls' obsolete overnight and the development of rifled gun bores and armour piercing shells rendered the old fortifications of little use. As part of the general upgrading of the Gosport and Portsmouth defences, three additional forts were added to create the Gomer-Elson line, Fort Grange, Rowner and Brockhurst (SU 50 SE 22-4), and these 3 forts were the first 'developed polygonal' forts in England. Regularly spaced, 1000 yards from centre to centre, the original plan by Major Jervois was to link them with a ditch but this was considered too expensive. The main purpose of the line was to defend Gosport at distance from an attack from the Winchester/Southampton direction.
Fort Gomers' design reflects the need to provide support to the Browndown Battery and for seaward defence. With the construction of the Stokes Bay Line, it was used to house mobile artillery for deployment along the line. Originally the armament consisted of 32 pounder smooth bore but this was later changed to 40 pounder Armstrong guns. (4-5)
Additional bibliography. (6)
Fort Gomer, built 1853-1858, was 'unique and an example of early attempts to break away from the old bastioned system of fortification.' There was a brick barracks to the rear with the main armament of the fort to the west, upon two earth bastions with a central curtain. The fort was said to be modified fairly soon after construction so as to remedy difficulties with the method of mounting guns. The fort was mainly used as a barracks and as a training facility during the Victorian period and was disarmed in 1901. The fort was used to train troops in preparation for the Boer War and First World War and in 1939 the 3rd Field Training Regiment was stationed here. In 1943/4 a Canadian unit, the Fort Garry Horse was stationed here with it's A and Headquarters Squadron for Amphibious assault training. On 4 March 1944 the 1st Hussar (6th Armoured Regiment) occupied the fort prior to the D-Day landings and in the early 1950s the 7th Royal Tank Regiment was based here, leaving in 1953. In that same year it was briefly occupied by the RAOC Training Boys School. Sometime after 1964 the fort was demolished and the land was redeveloped for housing. (7)
The fort and its associated barrack blocks were mapped from aerial phototgraphs as part of the Historic England Gosport HAZ project using historic RAF photographs taken prior to the demolition of the site. (8)
A single Military oblique aerial photographs taken in 1923 shows the western side of the fort with an area of probable practice trenching to the west of the moat (9).
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