Water Newton

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Water Newton is a village on the northern border of the English county of Cambridgeshire.

It is in the district (and former county) of Huntingdonshire between the River Nene and the A1 trunk road. The opposite bank of the river is administered as part of the City of Peterborough which is some five miles to the east.

During ploughing in February 1975, a hoard of 4th century Roman silver was discovered, which is known as 'the Water Newton Treasure'. They were probably buried by an inhabitant of the nearby Roman fortified garrison town of Durobrivae. The silver plates and bowls, votive tokens engraved and embossed with the labarum (the chi-rho cross), and an unengraved standing two-handled cup of the form (cantharus) later used as chalices comprise the earliest group of Christian liturgical silver yet found in the Roman Empire. Due to the importance of this find, it is now in the British Museum, with replicas at Peterborough Museum.