The Victorian church was built in the 1870s due to the growing population of St Woolos parish and of Newport as a whole.

The church building was completed by 1874 and consecrated by the Bishop of Llandaff, the Right Reverend Dr Alfred Ollivant on 4 July 1874.

[3] During Canon Willie’s incumbency the heating system was renewed, the church redecorated, masonry work refurbished and repointed where necessary, and the fine three manual organ by Conacher was rebuilt by Nicholson's of Malvern.

Quilted banners depicting the life of St Mark were commissioned: these were designed and made by church members, Mr Terry Wooff [who was also a Lay Reader in the parish], his wife Ida, and Mrs Myrna Brown.

Canon Willie retired in 2013 but the church remained open for worship, and in 2014 the Revd Dr Paul Thompson was appointed.