Ruthven Barracks is one of a number of security measures put in place by King George II during the War of the British Succession, better known as the Jacobite rebellions. They were built after the rising of 1715 to garrison British Army soldiers to enforce the Disarming Act of 1716.

Built high on a strategic mound in the Scottish Highlands that can be seen from miles around, the barracks could house two companies of soldiers – about 120 men – and their officers. It saw military action during the 1745 Jacobite rising with 12 redcoats withstanding a siege by 300 Jacobites. It fell the following year and became a rallying point for defeated Jacobites after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.