St Francis Xavier Church is a heritage-listed

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

at 6 Church Street,

Goodna Goodna is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb on the eastern edge of the City of Ipswich in Queensland, Australia. In the , Goodna had a population of 10,391 people. Geography Goodna is from the Brisbane central business district, ...

City of Ipswich The City of Ipswich is a local government area (LGA) located within the southwest of Greater Brisbane, which in turn, is situated within the vast South East region of the state of Queensland. Positioned between the City of Brisbane and the Ci ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It was designed by Andrea Giovanni Stombuco and built in 1881 by William Hanley. It was originally known as St Patrick's Church. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

St Francis Xavier Church was designed by architect

Andrea Stombuco Andrea Giovanni Stombuco (1820-1907) was an Italian-born Australian sculptor and architect. Many of the buildings he designed are listed on the heritage registers in Australia. Early life Andrea Stombuco travelled widely and was involved in vari ...

. The foundation stone for St Patrick's (as it was originally called) was laid on Sunday 15 August 1880 by Bishop of Brisbane James Quinn. The church was opened in Sunday 1 May 1881 by Bishop Quinn. Two major series of extensions and renovations have been made, the first by architects R. Coutts and Sons in 1915 and the second by Hubert van Hoo in the 1980s. Construction of the church is well-documented. Local stone came from a nearby quarry, believed to be in Stuart Street; parishioners carted the stone to the site as voluntary work. Most masonry work was carried out by William Hanley but was finished by day labour. Carpentry and painting were carried out by James Madden of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. The cedar was from Doorey's sawmill at The church was a substantial one; apart from St Marys Roman Catholic Church, Ipswich">St Mary's in Ipswich, other Catholic churches built in the Ipswich region at that time were simpler buildings of timber. The church was originally part of Ipswich parish but became a separate parish in 1892, the first priest being Fr Thomas Hayes. A school was started in 1910 and a convent was built in 1911 for Sisters of Mercy who taught at the school. The convent, a two-storey timber building, is still standing in Church Street opposite St Francis Xavier Church. A timber Presbytery (residence), presbytery was built in the 1890s but demolished ; its position is marked by a flat area encircled by trees immediately to the west of the current brick presbytery. The church was renovated and extended in 1915 by contractor J.C. Hobbs of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, to a design by R Coutts and Sons. The main change was construction of a new

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

of brick and two side sacristies; to connect the apse, an arch was cut in the stonework of the rear wall. Two side windows of the church were converted into double doors and the remaining six pairs were altered to allow them to be openable. A new

altar rail The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

was installed and a new

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

was added at the front, floored in black-and-white tile and containing a leadlight window by Extons. The foundations were strengthened and the walls were tied with iron plates running the length of the building on each side. At this time, two major

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows were installed in the side walls, one in memory of local school teacher John Carroll and the other in memory of Denis Gorman. The triple window on the western wall and other fittings,

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

paintings and statues within the church are also memorials. The name of the church was changed to

St Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative o ...

in the 1920s, apparently to avoid confusion as so many churches were named St Patrick's. Further changes occurred in the 1970s and 80s, prompted by changing

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

and changing patterns of church-going. Externally, a light timber structure was built at the northern side entrance to provide a place where the congregation could gather after a service. This was designed by parishioner and local architect Hubert van Hoof. The building was also repaired at this time, including installation of a new floor. Internally, there have been numerous changes to the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

area following the liturgical changes of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

; the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

was moved and later reduced in size, and the altar rail was removed. The gallery at the western end has been removed. The current

pews A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a synagogue, church, funeral home or sometimes a courtroom. Occasionally, they are also found in live performance venues (such as the Ryman A ...

are not original, but were recently acquired from another church. New silky oak altar furniture was designed by architect Hubert van Hoof.

Description

St Francis Xavier is a traditional cruciform-plan

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

church of

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

with steep

gabled A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

roof forms clad in

corrugated galvanised iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...

. The western end has a small gabled entrance

floored in black and white tiles, while the eastern end has an extended sanctuary and twin sacristies in brickwork. A contemporary timber-framed northern entry

gives access from the carpark to the centre of the nave. Windows are of pointed arch design, some of which contain fine quality stained and coloured glass memorials. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is dominated by the large archway leading to the extended

. The raised sanctuary floor has been extended westward into the nave. Niches each side of the archway contain religious statues. The painted boarded ceiling follows the collar-tie roof form and exhibits steel

tie-rod A tie rod or tie bar (also known as a hanger rod if vertical) is a slender structural unit used as a tie and (in most applications) capable of carrying tensile loads only. It is any rod or bar-shaped structural member designed to prevent the separa ...

and roof bracing. The church

are benches in light-coloured timber, low-backed and dating from possibly the 1970s. Other furniture includes a small timber altar of earlier date as well as new altar furniture in light-coloured

silky oak ''Grevillea robusta'', commonly known as the southern silky oak, silk oak or silky oak, silver oak or Australian silver oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. Despite its common names, it is unrelated to true oaks, whic ...

(designed by architect Hubert van Hoof). The walls of the nave display paintings showing the

and a memorial tablet honouring the first Parish Priest Fr Hayes. On the exterior walls above window height along each side is a steel strap extending the length of the stone work. The church is complemented by a parkland setting of mature trees, most notably tall hoop pines to the north, east and west. Early church entrance gates have survived at the Church Street boundary in front of the church. New school buildings are situated close to the southern side of the church and a brick presbytery and church office are situated to the north-east. These are not included within the heritage listing.

Heritage listing

St Francis Xavier Church was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The place demonstrates the pattern of development of the Goodna township and the desire of the Catholic community of the area in the 1880s to build a substantial local church The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. It is a good example of a Revival Gothic stone church of simple traditional form. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The church is prominently located near the major shopping area of Goodna and, with its setting of mature trees, has landmark qualities and contributes aesthetically to the streetscape. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. It has had a strong association with the spiritual, social and educational life of the Goodna community since its construction in 1881. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. It was built to the design of important architect Andrea Stombuco.

References

Attribution

External links

* * Provides a detailed description of the church at its opening in 1881. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Francis Xavier Church Goodna Queensland Heritage Register Goodna, Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register 1881 establishments in Australia Roman Catholic churches in Queensland 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Australia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1881 Gothic Revival architecture in Queensland Gothic Revival church buildings in Australia Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane