The Molen van Polder Buitenweg is a traditional polder mill that was built to drain the Buitenweg polder – an area of flat land which covered approximately 288 hectares. Polder mills played a very important part in Dutch history – they were used along with networks of locks and dikes to pump water out to sea, reclaiming large areas of fertile land. The Molen van Polder Buitenweg is owned by the Utrecht Mill Foundation, and is open to the public.