It was created in 1999, when The Old Wellington Inn and Sinclair's Oyster Bar were rebuilt there, having been moved from the Old Shambles nearby as part of major building works in the city following the 1996 Manchester bombing.

[1] Streets known as the "Shambles" can also be found in York, Stroud, Worcester, Sevenoaks, Chesterfield and Armagh, as well as a public house in Lutterworth which was once a butcher's shop and abattoir.

[2] The surviving sense of the word, meaning a scene of disorder, derives in turn from the butchers' shambles, which were known for their open gutters containing offal, pieces of meat and blood.

[5] In 1554,[citation needed] the building was purchased by the Byrom family, prominent linen merchants who used part of the premises as a draper's shop.

[citation needed] His son, also Edward, expanded the business, buying more of the property extending to the west of the Shambles 1689 and renting additional stalls on the market.

[8][7][9][10] Joseph Byrom inherited the original eastern Shambles building in 1713, buying the remainder of the western section (which would later become Sinclair's Oyster Bar) in 1729.

[13] The butchers' stalls were moved from the Old Shambles to new premises in Brown Street, built by the Lord of the manor, Sir Oswald Mosley, in 1827.

[20] The Old Wellington Inn and Sinclair's were rebuilt at 90 degrees to each other and joined together by a stone extension to form two sides of the new Shambles Square.