[1] The Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola at Toowong was opened in 1930 and is a Romanesque Revival building designed by Sydney architect, Jack Hennessy, junior.

[1] Although there was European settlement at Toowong in the 1860s, the area did not develop until the opening of the Brisbane to Ipswich railway line in 1875 made it readily accessible.

A number of villa houses were constructed on large estates on the Toowong ridge, while more modest residences occupied the lower levels.

[1] In 1902, the Sisters of Mercy purchased a large private home, Goldicott, at the top of the hill and took up residence there, naming it Mount St Mary's Convent.

All materials used were of the best quality and all five altars were designed by H Credington of the Catholic Art Gallery in Melbourne and made in his studios at Carrara in Italy.

The best work is visually indistinguishable from genuine marble, though it is far lighter, so that large and complex decorative features, such as the St Ignatius pulpit, can be constructed that would be difficult and costly to create in stone.

In 1908 Italian Pietro Melocco arrived in Sydney and began a commission on St Mary's Cathedral, the magnificent decorated floors of which became his life's work.

For the Government Savings Bank in Martin Place, Tony Melocco decided to use scagliola, a technique by then fallen into disuse.

Finding no one in either Italy or America able to teach him, Galli Melocco moved to Brisbane in 1929 to set up a branch of the company, though he returned to Sydney a year later as the Depression reduced the demand for such decorative work.

[1] The church was blessed and opened by Archbishop Duhig on the 18 May 1930 and dedicated to St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.

[1] The Church of St Ignatius Loyola is a brick Romanesque building cut into a steeply sloping site on Toowong ridge.

It is cruciform in plan with a long nave and short transepts terminating in small chapels, on the northern side accessing an elaborate scagliola pulpit.

[1] The ceiling is clad in fibrous cement sheeting with lattice vents and there is a choir loft faced with silky oak panelling above the eastern entrance, which contains the organ.

[1] Panels depicting the Stations of the Cross are set into the walls of the nave and at the western end is an apsidal chancel with vestries and a sanctuary approached through arches clad in orange veined scagliola and lined with the same material.

It is one of the churches, substantial in fabric and notable for quality of design and finish, which were intended to demonstrate and encourage a strong Catholic presence in the diocese.

It is a manifestation of the Catholic ethos of selecting imposing sites to produce prominent landmarks and is a characteristic of churches built during the time of Archbishop Duhig.

The Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola has high aesthetic value as a well designed and visually pleasing building on a landmark site.

The interior is notable for the quality of its fittings and finishes, including glass, altars, statuary and the use of scagliola for wall cladding and arches to the sanctuary and the ornate pulpit.

As a parish church and formerly a school, it has been important for several generations of Catholics in the surrounding area as a source of spiritual, social and educational sustenance.