Robert Adams (1540–1595) was a 16th-century

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, engraver and

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

of buildings to Queen Elizabeth. He was a son of Clement Adams. None of Robert Adams's architectural works are known to have survived, but some of his plans and engravings are still extant, such as a large 1588 plan of Middleburgh and, from the same year, a small parchment roll, drawn with pen, entitled "Thamesis Descriptio", which shows lines drawn across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

and the various ranges of guns at different points from

Tilbury Fort Tilbury Fort, also known historically as the Thermitage Bulwark and the West Tilbury Blockhouse, is an artillery fort on the north bank of the River Thames in England. The earliest version of the fort, comprising a small blockhouse with artill ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Adams also drew and engraved representations of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

's activities on the British coasts, which were published by

Augustine Ryther Augustine Ryther (died 1593) was an English engraver and translator. He engraved some of Christopher Saxton's maps of English counties. He also made scientific instruments. Works Ryther was associated with engraving maps of the counties of Englan ...

in 1589. Robert Adams died in his 55th year and was buried in the church at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, where the following inscription was placed to his memory: :"Egregio viro Roberto Adams, operum regiorum supervisori, architecturae peritissimo. Ob. 1595.

Simon Basil Simon Basil (fl. 1590 — 1615) was an English surveyor or architect, who held the post of Surveyor of the King's Works, 1606-15. Works Simon Basil's first recorded appearance, in 1590, was drawing a plan of Ostend, a military objective at the tim ...

, operationum regiarum contrarotulator, hoc posuit monumentum 1601." :''To the distinguished Robert Adams, supervisor of the royal works, most skilled at architecture. Died 1595. Simon Basil, his successor at the royal works, put up this monument here 1601.''

References

* Long, George (1842–44). ''The Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge'', 4 volumes. London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Robert 1540 births 1595 deaths 16th-century English architects English surveyors English engravers Place of birth unknown Date of death unknown Place of death unknown Date of birth unknown 16th-century engravers