A new lead iron(III) hydrated phosphate, Pb 3 Fe 2 (PO 4 ) 4 (H 2 O), has been synthesised hydrothermally in Teflon-lined stainless steel autoclaves at 220 C for 7 days, with an initial pH of 1.5. It is the first example of a synthetic hydrous Pb-Fe 3þ phosphate. Crystals are small, colourless to white prisms, uniaxial (þ) and non-pleochroic. The calculated refractive index for white light is n ¼ 1.95. Single-crystal structure determination (R(F) ¼ 0.0457) shows Pb 3 Fe 2 (PO 4 ) 4 (H 2 O) to be tetragonal, space group P4 1 2 1 2 (no. 92), with a ¼ 9.0440(10), c ¼ 16.766(3) A ˚, V ¼ 1371.4(3) A ˚3 and Z ¼ 4. Pb 3 Fe 2 (PO 4 ) 4 (H 2 O) has a structure type which is based on a tetrahedral-octahedral framework of FeO 6 octahedra sharing corners with PO 4 tetrahedra, with Pb atoms and H 2 O molecules occupying voids in the framework. Pb 3 Fe 2 (PO 4 ) 4 (H 2 O) is homeotypic with synthetic Pb 3 Cr 2 (PO 4 ) 4 ; both compounds share the same heteropolyhedral topology and the same space group, but only Pb 3 Fe 2 (PO 4 ) 4 (H 2 O) contains an additional position occupied by a water molecule. The octahedral-tetrahedral chain of Pb 3 Fe 2 (PO 4 ) 4 (H 2 O) is topologically similar to double-strand chains found in the structures of hannayite, galliskiite, kapundaite, PbIn(AsO 4 )(AsO 3 OH) and Na 2.88 Fe(PO 4 ) 2 . Infrared spectroscopy is used to describe the vibrational properties of Pb 3 Fe 2 (PO 4 ) 4 (H 2 O).