In the year 1771, local inhabitants petitioned the Governor and the Bishop regarding the need for a place of worship closer than Malew Parish Church. In winter they were unable to reach the church due to severe weather and poor roads.

St Mark’s Church was consecrated on the 23rd of June 1772 by Bishop Mark Hildesley who personally contributed to the cost. It would appear that initially the church was either poorly constructed or not maintained, as when the Reverend John Thomas Clarke was appointed chaplain in 1827 he found the building in a ‘shocking state’. It is reported that he found the floor of the chancel aisle and pews to be made of clay instead of wood, the gallery remained without a ceiling and no paint had been used on the interior of the chapel. Reverend Clarke remedied the defects of the church.

Amongst those buried in the churchyard are the first trustees, Hugh Cosnahan and Thomas Fargher. Mr Fargher’s memorial in the graveyard is by far the largest and most striking. The first burial was that of Margaret Collister in 1778. Many residents of Foxdale were also buried at St Mark’s prior to the opening of St Paul’s Church in Foxdale in 1874.

The organ cane from Malew Parish Church in 1907, having been built by H W Hewitt of Leicester in the 1880s. It is likely that the organ dates back to the 1830s as Hewitt’s speciality was rebuilding scrap organs. The organ was situated in the chancel until 1981 when it was restored and moved to its present site.