The parish of Crondall covered a much larger area than the present day boundaries and included most of Fleet, Church Crookham and Ewshot. Until 1840 there were no other churches. With the building of the main line railway to Southampton and the establishment of Aldershot as the home of the British Army in 1855, there was a rise in the population and a simultaneous demand for outlying churches to be built to serve their local communities. The first of these was Crookham Church in 1840, followed by Fleet in 1862, built as a memorial to wife of Mr Charles Lefroy who died before it was dedicated. Ewshot soon followed.

Parson White (see All Saints Crondall) had been instrumental in establishing a small school in 1844 for the children of the local farm workers and other villagers in Ewshot. There he would conduct Sunday school each week. (The School was finally closed in 1923.). The closest church was at Church Crookham but it was a long walk and the local folk preferred to attend a Sunday evening service at Turville’s Farm (now the site of the Village Hall). The need to have a church of their own was growing.

But it was not until the early 1870s that the Rev George Powell, appointed to the living of Church Crookham-cum-Ewshot in 1868, suggested that a school chapel be built at Ewshot. It was Bishop Wilberforce that recommended that the Rev Powell build a church rather than a chapel. A generous offer to fund this was made by the Rev G. E. D. de Vitre who lived at Crookham and land was donated by Mr Lindsay Johnston the wealthy landowner of Eastbridge. Mrs Denis de Vitre laid the foundation stone on August 14th 1872, and an address was given by the former Bishop of Wellington, NZ, Rt. Rev. C. J. Abraham. At first it was only intended to build a nave, but enough money was raised to include a chancel. The cost was £2,100 including the, the architect’s fee - Mr Oldred Scott, the son of Sir Gilbert Scott.

Bishop Wilberforce took great interest in the new "little church on the Common", and would ride over from his princely residence at Farnham Castle, gaitered, aproned and shovel-hatted attended by a groom. Unfortunately he died before the church was finished and it was his successor, Bishop Harold Browne who consecrated the building as St Mary, the Virgin on 1st December 1873. The first priest-in-charge was the Rev George Powell Irby, a nephew of the Rev George Powell. There was no housing supplied but the Rev Irby built St Mary's Lodge opposite the church in 1878 and lived there until he died in 1910.

St. Mary's was built of stone and flint in the early English style. It had a marble reredos and a colourful east window both gifts from individual parishioners. There was no pulpit until 1907 when one was installed. In 1906, oil lamps were put in and the lighting switched to gas in 1929. Electricity was introduced in 1956.

St Mary's hitherto a part of Crookham parish became a separate parish in 1886 with the parish boundary taking in part of Crondall to the south. The Rev Thomas Robinson who had been Curate-in-charge was licensed as Perpetual Curate of Ewshot and, on the death of the Vicar of Crondall Rev W. D. Harrison in 1890, he became Vicar of Ewshot.

To celebrate the centenary of St. Mary's, Barbara Cross published a booklet entitled "The Ewshot Story" in 1973. Limited copies are obtainable at the church.