"Considered to be the seat of the city of Tournai on the right bank of the Scheldt, the Saint-Brice church was part of the diocese of Cambrai until the Concordat of 1801.
It was rebuilt in the 12th century on a basilica plan on the site of the old pre-Romanesque church.
In the 13th century, the choir was extended for the first time and a second time in the 15th century.
This part of the building then takes the form of the triple hall that will be used by so many churches in Maritime Flanders (Hallekerken). These extensions of the choir can be explained by its role. Indeed, it is the seat of a deanery grouping together 61 parishes whose pastors met each year in synod in Saint-Brice.
Two towers mark the building, of which the one on the facade has always served as a belfry in the Bourg district.
In the 16th century, two side chapels were added to the first structure. It was during this same century, in 1653, that the tomb of Chilperic I, father of Clovis, was discovered.
In 1940, a violent fire ravaged the building, which was to be rebuilt after the war."