The watermills belonged to the manor house of Singraven near Denekamp, a village in the eastern part of the province of Overijssel, close to the German border. While the watermills do exist, the setting is Ruisdael's invention: there are no hills near Denekamp.
Inspired by Ruisdael's repeated depictions of the watermills, his pupil Meindert Hobbema followed his example and painted a series of pictures with the same motif. One of them, 'The Watermills at Singraven near Denekamp', is also in the National Gallery's Collection.
