Newton is on the main railway line south from Glasgow, and from about 1847 had its own station called Wamphray, but this closed in the 1960s.

There are various historic and pre-historic sites near Newton Wamphray, including standing stones and the remains of a motte-and-bailey.

He removed to Wamphray to begin serving the parish at an unknown date (estimates vary from 1637 until 1655) and remained in residence until 1662, when he was imprisoned and later exiled to the Netherlands for his public opposition to the royal imposition of bishops on the Church.

Newton suggests "new village or farmstead", a placename derived from Old English niwe (new) + tun (farm).

Newton Wamphray is in the parliamentary constituency of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, David Mundell is the current Conservative Party member of parliament.