It stands on the former site of a Romanesque chapel erected in 1125 by Benedictines from Vlierbeek Abbey near Leuven.

The two heavy square towers flanking the west facade are connected with each other by means of a gallery over the nave.

In 1999, UNESCO included the towers and church as part of the World Heritage Site Belfries of Belgium and France.

[1] Few, if any other medieval churches in Belgium remain in such an excellent state of preservation as Saint Leonard's, which stayed clear of the widespread iconoclasm during the Protestant Reformation.

The interior thus offers an authentic glimpse of how the churches of Brabant were furnished centuries ago.