In ca. 1140 a church was built in Ruinen as part of a Benedictine monastery. In 1325 the Benedictines left Ruinen and the church became a parish church. In the first decades of the 15th century this church was drasticaly rebuilt into the current Gothic building. It has a one-aisled nave, as usual for village churches in Drenthe. The choir, which was narrower than the nave, was demolished in 1836. At the south side of the nave two closed arches and a closed circular window indicate the former location of a chapel which had been built in ca. 1375 and had survived the rebuilding of the old church in the 15th century. This chapel was demolished also in 1836.
The tower is of the Drenthe Gothic type, consisting of four segments and having a single tall pointed niche in each side of the second, third and fourth segments. Most of these are blind niches, but the one above the entrance contains a window while those at the top have sound holes. The tower was built in 1423 while a stair-turret was added later. The spire dates from ca. 1660, when a storm destroyed the old one. The lantern on top dates from 1952 and replaced a dome from the 17th century.
The white paint on the traceries and niches was added during a restoration in the 1970's. /font>