The Marlpit is the locally produced magazine for the villages of Coltishall, Horstead and Great Hautbois in the County of Norfolk, England. The magazine is published 10 times a year and delivered to all homes and businesses in the villages and other ancillary districts. We aim to produce a magazine, which is an informative communication of local news, events and articles. The magazine is free but we take an annual door-to-door collection to help meet the costs of production.

The magazine is produced completely by volunteers apart from a small honorarium given to the two printers. Currently there are 4 editors who meet 10 times a year to discuss content of the next issue. Articles for inclusion are submitted from various clubs and associations, local churches, parish councils and local residents amongst others. Approximately 56 people are involved with the production of the Marlpit, including editors, printers, staplers and deliverers.

The Magazine was first produced in 1977 and a competition was launched to decide on the name and due to local connections the name 'The Marlpit' was chosen. The Marlpit refers to the pits that were dug in the 19th and 20th century to remove marl from the ground. Marl is clay with a high level of calcium carbonate, which was processed to produce lime for agricultural purposes and as an ingredient for mortar and whitewash. The area around Coltishall and Horstead has particularly high quality marl and the production of lime was an important industry in the area.

As the Marlpit was first produced in 1977, we celebrate our silver jubilee this year, 2002 and what better way to celebrate than to launch a web site! We hope you enjoy reading our Web magazine, which is currently an abridged version of our printed magazine. Later this year we will launch an additional section on our villages and area.