[2] St Mark's was built to serve the northern part of Salisbury, which at the time was undergoing much residential expansion.

[4][3] As the local population continued to increase, a movement was formed in September 1890, led by the Bishop of Salisbury, Rev.

With a site already offered by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, a building committee was formed the following month and a number of architects invited to submit their designs, with Joseph A. Reeve's submission being selected.

[2] Historic England considers the church's design to be "ambitious" and noted St Mark's importance for its "associations with Bishop John Wordsworth's campaign for the extension of Anglicanism in Salisbury at the end of the 19th century".

[2] William Wand was perpetual curate of St Mark's after service in World War I, and subsequently became an Australian Archbishop and later Bishop of London.