The origins of this temple can be found at the beginning of the 10th century. The first documented news is found in 977 when, in the founding act of the canonry of Santa Maria de Besalú, the villa of Scalis is mentioned. The church is mentioned as such for the first time in 1092 when the nobleman Bernat Joan de la Clusa, Lord of Ogassa, bequeathed to the Priory of Santa Maria del Coll de Panissars two parts of the tithe of the parish of Steps. Since then, the church will be documented in numerous wills and deeds of purchase and sale of nearby land, from the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.
From 1598 we know many details of the life of Santa Maria d'Escales thanks to a manuscript Book of works of Our Lady of Escales that is preserved in the provincial archive of Oix, a book where the clergy recorded the reforms, debts or censuses. These annotations reach the end of the 18th century. It is precisely in the year 1598 when it loses the category of parish and is attached to Sant Llorenç d'Oix. In the 17th century, improvement works were carried out in the church. It is known that half of the church and the entrance will be built, that an altarpiece will be sawn and that the altars of the Virgin Mary and Saint John will be built. In 1666 it is recorded that the church had two carvings of the Virgin Mary: the old one and the new one. Around 1700 there was a rector in Oix and a vicar to look after the suffraganies of Talaixà, Ribelles, Escales and Hortmoier.
During the War of 1936 the church was looted, like most of the temples in the area, and the carving of the Virgin Mary disappeared. It has been postulated that the carving of the old Virgin is the one found in the MNAC as the Virgin of Prunera. In 1976, the Friends of Alta Garrotxa began cleaning and restoring the building. On August 15, the gathering of Our Lady of August was celebrated in Santa Maria d'Escales. There are some old Joys and some newer ones dedicated to Our Lady of Escales.