What is Fort Belvedere, Surrey?
[[File:Fort Belvedere 1900s.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Postcard of Fort Belvedere in the 1900s]] '''Fort Belvedere''' is a [[country house]] on Shrubs Hill in [[Windsor Great Park]], [[England]], very near [[Sunningdale]], [[Berkshire]], but actually over the border in the [[borough]] of [[Runnymede (borough)|Runnymede]] in [[Surrey]]. It is a former royal residence - from 1750 to 1976 - and is most famous for being the home of [[Edward VIII of the United Kingdom|King Edward VIII]]. Fort Belvedere is still owned by the Crown, and is now occupied by private tenants. ==Early history== Fort Belvedere was built 1750-1755, for [[Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland]], younger son of [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] and [[Caroline of Ansbach|Queen Caroline]], famous for his role in the [[Battle of Culloden]]. It was, at first, merely a [[folly]] (a building built as art, instead of having a purely practical purposes). It was used as a summer-house, and seven counties could be seen, as now, from the top of the flagstaff tower. The triangular turreted structure was set in a dense plantation of trees and overlooked [[Virginia Water]], a man-made body of water constructed by [[Thomas Sandby|Thomas]] and [[Paul Sandby]] at the request of the Duke. Sir [[Jeffrey Wyattville]], who was responsible for the rebuilding of [[Windsor Castle]] under [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]], enlarged the house in 1828, for use as a hunting lodge. Additions included an octagon room in the North-East side, where the King regularly had dinner. The new work included the extension of the military appearance of the house, though it never had any military use. A set of 31 guns, cast 1729-1749 by the first master founder at the Royal Foundry, later the [[Royal Arsenal]], [[Woolwich]], were used to fire salutes until 1907, often for [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] who was a frequent visitor. The Bombardier entrusted with the care of the guns lived in Bombardier’s Cottage, connected to the main house by an a