Manchester Craft and Design Centre

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 5 Oct 2015

During the nineteenth century, the area now known as the Northern Quarter was dominated by the Smithfield Market. This first appeared on the map in 1844, when the stalls which would become the Smithfield Market began to pop up in the Shudehill area. The Smithfield Fish and Poultry Market was opened in 1873 on Oak Street. At the height of its success, in 1953, Smithfield Market dominated the site bounded by Shudehill, Swan Street, Oak Street and Thomas Street. It featured a market office, covered market, wholesale fish market, fish market office, and retail fish market. There were numerous warehouses dedicated to the storage of fruit and vegetables and on Blossom Street, in Ancoats, an ice plant for the preservation of produce. The wholesale market hall was closed in 1972 and parts of the complex were demolished; the market stalls were relocated to the New Smithfield Market at Openshaw. The former Smithfield Retail Fish Market has since been converted into a Craft Village. Inside a number of artists sell their creations out of small shops and stalls, arranged within the original fish traders’ shops which retain the traders' names. http://goo.gl/qccCl6 Manchester Evening news The Way We Were http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/tours/tour4/area4page50.html Manchester History Net

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