The invention contemplates a prestressed rolling mill incorporating a system of hydraulically operated load-transfer blocks, wherein the blocks are of unitary construction and bodily interposed between vertically opposed regions of upper and lower back-up roll chocks, at the respective inlet and exit sides of each axial end of the mill. Each load-transfer block is inherently self-adapting (at each of a plurality of force-application regions) to such small locally different deformations in the mill frame as result from the block's modulating contribution to net prestressing force; further, each load-transfer block includes its own hydraulic-control system with minimum-displacement actuators whereby a fast time constant of hydraulic response is achieved. Still further, control of all load-transfer blocks is monitored and coordinated through a microprocessor having instantaneous hydraulic-pressure and positional data inputs electrically supplied from all load-transfer blocks, as well as from various other data inputs pertaining to mill operation.