The barracks were built as temporary accommodation in 1850 to accommodate the
Queen's Guard around the time that
Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert acquired
Balmoral Castle. A row of Tudor style cottages were converted into permanent barracks in 1869 and some flat-roofed oriental-looking buildings were erected on the site in 1904. Further modernisation, including the removal of some old huts, took place in 1969. During the flooding caused by
Storm Frank in late December 2015, families living in the worst affected parts of Ballater were evacuated to the barracks. When Queen
Elizabeth II resided in
Balmoral Castle for three months each summer, the barracks housed the
Royal Regiment of Scotland's Royal Guard. ==References==