In addition to the normal facilities provided by a motorway service station, the site also includes a Travelodge hotel in a separate building, together with a riverside walk.

The services are located at junction 10 of the M40, where the motorway intersects the A43 trunk road.

[1][2] Despite its name, the services are neither in the valley nor the drainage basin of the River Cherwell, but rather beside a small east-flowing stream that becomes part of the Padbury Brook before joining the River Great Ouse at Buckingham.

The site was previously occupied by a toilet facility, which had been there since the motorway's opening.

The new building was completed in time to be opened on 30 June 2011, and is substantially larger than its 1994 predecessor.