On the site where this church stands was the Convent of La Merced, built between 1672 and 1723. With the disentailment of Mendizábal in 1836, it was used as a school, textile factory and asylum, and was demolished in 1895. After this, and using part of the stone from the previous building, the current new church of Sabugo was built, dedicated to Santo Tomás de Canterbury, as was the small old church in the fishermen's quarter of Sabugo. It was inaugurated in 1903 in the presence of the Nuncio of His Holiness, Monsignor Rinaldini and the Archbishop of Alcala-Madrid, Monsignor Guisasola. The construction was the result of the growth of the town of Avilés, motivated by the local bourgeoisie of a commercial and industrial nature and returned Indianos, which preceded the great expansion of Avilés with the construction of the Ensidesa steelworks in the middle of the 20th century. The initiative came from Julián García San Miguel y Zaldúa, Marquis of Teverga, of the Liberal Party, and the commission went to the prestigious architect Luis Bellido.

It is a church with a markedly neo-Gothic and medievalist character. Two slender 47-metre spire towers stand out on its façade. The ground plan is in the shape of a Latin cross, 57 metres long and 22.5 metres wide.

The interior is made up of three naves, the central one being much higher and with a clerestory, separated from the other two by pointed arches. The three naves are covered with ribbed vaults. Numerous altarpieces decorate the interior, the work of the prestigious Asturian artist Félix Granda Buylla. The decoration perished during the Civil War, but was replaced again by Buylla's workshop. The organ located in the choir also stands out.