The English Town Made of Wool

MERSHAM, May 22, 2009— -- Welcome to the village of Mersham, England idyllically situated in the rolling hills of Kent. It is a traditional English village in most senses, with quaint houses, gardens, pubs and a church.

The only thing is, it is made entirely out of wool.

It is a replica of the town knitted by hand by a group of ladies 23 years ago.

The idea came when times were tough and money was scarce. Rather than let the economic hardships get the better of them, a tightly knit group of women came up with a unique way to raise money: by knitting.

Knocking on doors, the women -- who called themselves the afternoon club -- asked fellow villagers if they would like to see a reproduction of their home, knitted in wool, in exchange for a donation that would go to help save the village town hall.

They "came around and asked, would anyone like to have their house knitted, because we are going to do all the houses in the village. And well, we couldn't say no, could we?" Jim Woodhouse told ABC News.

"So we said yes!" chimed his wife, Avril Woodhouse.

The project grew, until it included nearly every building in Mersham.

Above, we see one of the typical English cottages, the garden blossoming with woolen greenery and flowers. The attention to detail is impressive; the replication of the car even has button tires.

After successfully raising money to keep the village hall afloat two decades ago, the knitted village was stowed away under hall's stage and forgotten. It was not until last weekend, that Joy Pearson and other survivors of the club, decided to bring the project back to light.

The resurrected houses were brought out and carefully laid out on tables around the hall. Villagers flocked to the knit sale to buy a mini-wool version of their house and take a piece of village history home with them, rasing even more money for the town.

The slightly askew rather hickeldy-pickeldy replicas convey the character of the English houses with their tiled roofs and latticed windows.

The ladies with a talent with the knitting needles even recreated the hedges.

One of the knitters, long since deceased, tackled her assignment of replicating the local church, while on holiday. Joy Pearson recalls how her friend had confused fellow holidaymakers, who could not understand why she was knitting little grey squares. With a twinkle in her eye, Mrs Pearson explained: "'You can't have a church without a graveyard, and someone had to make those graves.'"

Pearson herself knitted the local pub, The Royal Oak. From her house across the road, she had a perfect view to recreate this village hub.

A common sight on a cold morning in the 1980s is depicted above as a local man pushes his car along the road, hoping to jump-start some life into it. You can see the effort in those knitted muscles.

True to reality, this farmyard comes with clucking hens.

Big or small, stretched out or piled high, the village houses come in all shapes and sizes.

Above, a manor house, and below, blue shuttered windows and an extensive selection of out-houses. This is how the ladies recreated the unique character of Mersham.

Beside the mowed lawns you can see the vegetable patch with floroushing home-grown food.

Check out the wicker fence, carefully protecting the garden lawn.

Every village has a group of teenagers dedicated to propping up the bus shelter. True to form, the local youth depicted here hang out smoking, drinking and causing trouble.

When chilling in the bus shelter, you must look your best: the figure on the right has clearly remembered to slap on that lip-stick before leaving the house.

And, judging by the swagger of the chap in the middle, there might just be a bottle of beer hidden in there.

From the bus shelter to the sprawling house, it takes all types in the village of Mersham.

This house is replicated to the last stitch, including a long barn with green doors. Great for keeping that tractor tucked away.

There is no shortage of windows in this particular house. They are even in the roof.

The owners obviously have green fingers. The crawler plant and blue flowers have stood the test of time.

Last of all, the house below stands glorious on its own, with a garden in full bloom.

Who knew that Noah's Ark was in Mersham!

ABC News' Ammu Kannampilly contributed to this report