Built between 1857 and 1858 and roofed over with iron trusses in 1865, the hall replaced an earlier butchers' shambles on the same site.

At its peak in 1897, the market place covered four and a half acres in Manchester City Centre stretching from Swan Street in Ancoats in the north, Thomas Street in the Northern Quarter, Shudehill to the east and Oak Street to the west.

[4][5] In these various markets the public could obtain fish, meat, fruit and vegetables; its influence was such that it spread further into Ancoats and through its Italian community spawned an ice-cream manufacturing industry.

The Mackie Mayor is the only remaining fully intact building from the former Smithfield market.

Opened in 1858, it was initially used as a market, but had lain empty since the early 1990s.