The village of Mungrisdale sits at the eastern edge of the Skiddaw Fells, at a dramatic junction between the mountains and the flatter ground to the east. The River Glenderamackin emerges from the mountains here and turns south, passing through the grounds of the Mill Hotel, a 17th century mill cottage. The village is named after St. Mungo (also known as St. Kentigern) and after a valley of the pigs (Grisdale). The current church was rebuilt in 1756 and is a low whitewashed building, containing an older three deck pulpit dated to 1679 and a harmonium in place of an organ. The village was the birthplace of John Slee, a distinguished mathematician who died in 1828, having spent some of his life teaching residential pupils in Mungrisdale.
The village contains two similarly named establishments - the Mill Inn and the Mill Hotel, close to each other and the cause of some confusion. The old smithy was once opposite the Mill Inn - when it was being demolished in the early 1970s a gaff used to stun salmon was found hidden in the structure, suggesting that it was once the centre of local poaching.