He published an account of his voyage, under
the title of " A Discovery by sea, from London to Salisbury." Francis
Mathew also suggested the improvement of the navigation of the river
in 1655; and an Act of Parliament for that purpose was obtained in
1664. Bishop Ward was translated to the see of Salisbury in 1667,
but the commencement of the works, as described by Aubrey, was
probably delayed till 1669, in August of which year the Mayor of
Salisbury and others were constituted a Committee "to consult and
treat with such persons as will undertake to render the Avon
navigable." Two other pamphlets urging the importance of the project
were published in 1672 and 1675 (see Gough's Topography, vol. ii. p.
366); and in 1687 a series of regulations was compiled "for the good
and orderly government and usage of the New Haven and Pier now made
near Christchurch, and of the passages made navigable from thence to
the city of New Sarum." (See Hatcher's History of Salisbury, pp. 460,
497.) The works thus made were afterwards destroyed by a flood, and
remained in ruins till 1771. Some repairs were then executed, but they
were inefficient; and the navigation is now given up, except at the
mouth of the river; and even there the bar of Christchurch is an
insurmountable obstacle except at spring tides.-(Penny Cyclop?dia,
art. Wiltshire.) As the Bishop dug the first spitt, or spadeful of
earth, and drove the first wheelbarrow, that necessary process was no
doubt made a matter of much ceremony.
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