In December 1559 he petitioned the queen for grants of patent on a variety of machines powered by water wheels. This was the first patent request in England but it was not granted to Aconcio until 1565. In 1560 he was granted an annual royal pension of 60 pounds and in 1561 he became an English subject. In 1563 Aconcio proposed a plan to drain two thousand acres marshland along the south bank of the Thames between Erith and Plumstead. The effort was initially successful, but bad weather flooded what he had managed to reclaim, and Aconcio was obliged to hand over control of the project to his partner, Giovanni Battista Castiglione, and other investors. It was not until 1564 that he was hired as military engineer to participate in a joint review of the fortifications being developed at Berwick Castle, one of the most important strongholds along the Scottish-English border. The work being done by engineer Richard Lee had been criticized by the government's chief Italian expert, Giovanni Portinari, and Aconcio was sent to Berwick to provide another perspective. He made his own design suggestions, some of which were implemented.