A first wooden church dedicated to Saint James was built on this site in 1093 . The building was destroyed by troops from Robert Curthose . It was replaced by a building of wood and stone. A new Romanesque church was built, the core of which dates from the period after 1120. It is the oldest Romanesque church in Belgium with a double western tower, although an unfinished two-tower facade had already been started at Tournai Cathedral. The pillars of the transept also remain from the Romanesque period . The octagonal crossing tower and the remodeling of the choir took place around the middle of the 13th century, in the Scheldt Gothic style . A fire around 1400 destroyed the southern of the two western towers. Although it was rebuilt with a stone spire, its face has since lost its symmetry. In the 15th century, the church was expanded with side chapels for theguilds.(wikipedia)