Gundulf, a monk from the Abbey of Bec in Normandy came to England in 1070 as Lafranc's chaplain at Canterbury.
His talent for architecture had been spotted by William I and was put to good use in Rochester where he was appointed as bishop in 1077.
Almost immediately the king appointed him to supervise the construction of the White Tower, now part of the Tower of London in 1078.
Under William Rufus he also undertook building work on Rochester Castle.
Having served three Kings of England and earning "the favour of then all", Gundulf is accepted as the first "King's Engineer".
He died in 1108 and his statue adorns the west door of the cathedral.

Because of his military engineering talent, Gundulf is regarded as the "father of the Corps of Royal Engineers".
The corps claims a line of Kings Engineers pre-dating the engineers of the Board of Ordnance in 1414 and the formal founding of the Corps in 1716 all the way back to Gundulf.
This shared heritage and the close proximity to the cathedral of the Royal School of Military Engineering in Brompton means the Corps of Royal Engineers and Rochester Cathedral maintain strong links to this day.

There are over 25 memorials to individual officers and soldiers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, including that of Lieut John Chard VC, the officer in charge of defending Rorke's Drift against the Zulu onslaught, and a number of memorials representing members of the corps that have given their lives in the discharge of their duty, including many stained glass windows presented by the corps.

A memorial tablet was erected in 1902 to the memory of three officers, graduates of the Royal Military College of Canada, who died while serving in Africa: Huntly Brodie Mackay, Captain Royal Engineers; William Henry Robinson, Captain Royal Engineers; and William Grant Stairs, Captain the Welsh Regiment.

The latest memorial to the Corps of Royal Engineers was dedicated during the service of remembrance on the Corps Memorial Weekend, 19 September 2010, led by Adrian Newman (then Dean of Rochester; now Bishop of Stepney), in the presence of the Chief Royal Engineer, Peter Wall, and the families of the ten Royal Engineers killed in Afghanistan since September 2009, recipients of military decorations including the Elizabeth Cross.
Gundulf, a monk from the Abbey of Bec in Normandy came to England in 1070 as Lafranc's chaplain at Canterbury. His talent for architecture had been spotted by William I and was put to good use in Rochester where he was appointed as bishop in 1077. Almost immediately the king appointed him to supervise the construction of the White Tower, now part of the Tower of London in 1078. Under William Rufus he also undertook building work on Rochester Castle. Having served three Kings of England and earning "the favour of then all", Gundulf is accepted as the first "King's Engineer". He died in 1108 and his statue adorns the west door of the cathedral.
Because of his military engineering talent, Gundulf is regarded as the "father of the Corps of Royal Engineers". The corps claims a line of Kings Engineers pre-dating the engineers of the Board of Ordnance in 1414 and the formal founding of the Corps in 1716 all the way back to Gundulf. This shared heritage and the close proximity to the cathedral of the Royal School of Military Engineering in Brompton means the Corps of Royal Engineers and Rochester Cathedral maintain strong links to this day.
There are over 25 memorials to individual officers and soldiers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, including that of Lieut John Chard VC, the officer in charge of defending Rorke's Drift against the Zulu onslaught, and a number of memorials representing members of the corps that have given their lives in the discharge of their duty, including many stained glass windows presented by the corps.
A memorial tablet was erected in 1902 to the memory of three officers, graduates of the Royal Military College of Canada, who died while serving in Africa: Huntly Brodie Mackay, Captain Royal Engineers; William Henry Robinson, Captain Royal Engineers; and William Grant Stairs, Captain the Welsh Regiment.
The latest memorial to the Corps of Royal Engineers was dedicated during the service of remembrance on the Corps Memorial Weekend, 19 September 2010, led by Adrian Newman (then Dean of Rochester; now Bishop of Stepney), in the presence of the Chief Royal Engineer, Peter Wall, and the families of the ten Royal Engineers killed in Afghanistan since September 2009, recipients of military decorations including the Elizabeth Cross.
Rochester Cathedral