The Smithfield Market was opened on Whitsun Fair Thursday, 29 May 1817 by the Birmingham Street Commissioners. The total cost of the development was £3,223 with the cost of construction being £2,449. A result of the opening of the market was the removal of farm animals from the streets and the increase in amount of space for retail trading. Due to the proximity to the markets, Smithfield also developed into a trading centre, establishing its own cattle and horse market which occasionally sold hay and straw on Michaelmas Day in 1817. An Act of Parliament passed in the same year forced the sheep and pig market, which had been held on New Street. The market was further extended in 1883 when a wholesale vegetable market opened on part of the Smithfield site. The pig market in Smithfield was moved to a new site on Montague Street in 1897 and the cattle market followed in 1898. The vegetable market took over the market by 1900, however, a weekly and bi-weekly second-hand market, known as the Rag Fair, was also held there from before 1912 until 1957. Smithfield market declined due to the increasing popularity in the dead meat market.