SD3342 : Marsh Mill, Thornton - tentering governor
taken 2 years ago, near to Thornton, Lancashire, England

Marsh Mill is an 18th-century tower windmill in Thornton. Built in 1794 by Ralph Slater for local landowner Bold Hesketh, it functioned as a corn mill until the 1920s and has since been fully restored. Although the sails do not turn at present, there is much original machinery. It is a good example of a complete English windmill and has been designated a Grade II* listed building (English Heritage Building ID: 184793 Link
British Listed Buildings). Standing at over seventy feet in height, Marsh Mill is the tallest in Europe (Link
).
Wyre Council provides a brief history of the mill at Link.
In a mill context, tentering is changing the distance (gap) between the runner stone and the bed stone. Decreasing the distance results in a finer grain. As the stones go faster there is a natural tendency for the runner to rise and the tentering mechanism can be adjusted to counter this. In many windmills this is done by a governor that automatically compensates for the tendency of the runner to rise. In watermills it is done by hand with mechanisms of varying elegance. In this case, the second order lever at the bottom raises or lowers the footstep bearing that the spindle carrying the stone nut is supported by. The adjustment is by a vertical lead screw on the other side of the frame and in easy reach of the miller.
