Fort Gomer had a wet moat surrounding it and provision was made to further hinder the enemy by flooding the ground in front of the rampart.

It was nearly 500 feet wide and 800 feet long, its rear faced east and consisted of a defensible barracks, built in the shape of a shallow V. Two spiral staircases gave access to the roof of the barrack block.

[3] The main armament of the fort was placed on two west facing earth bastions with a central curtain providing more guns firing through embrasures.

The plans of 1862 list the armament of Fort Gomer as: By 1872 it was proposed to withdraw most of the smoothbore guns and provided twenty 7-inch rifled muzzleloaders.

[4] The fort was modified early on to remedy shortcomings in its method of mounting guns, barbette positions being substituted for some of the embrasures on the flanks.

[5] In 1891 the mounted armament was: Throughout the Victorian period the fort was used mainly as barracks and as a training establishment.

The 1st Hussars (6th Armoured Regiment) moved to Fort Gomer on 4 March 1944 in preparation for the D-Day landings.

The Specialised Armour Development Establishment (SADE), also used Fort Gomer to undertake work on amphibious fighting vehicles until at least September 1946.