DNA shows typically English villagers are a bunch of foreigners

WITH rows of tumbling thatched cottages and a quaint green, the chocolate box village of Bledington appears as quintessentially English as could be.

But residents of the hamlet in the heart of the Cotswolds have discovered that a majority of them are not actually of fully “British” descent at all.

The ethnicity of the ancient settlement, home to around 500 people, is recorded by population data as being 94.5 per cent white British.

But when some of the community’s residents signed up for DNA testing a very different story emerged.

Their genetic heritage spans 18 global locations and includes not only countries such as France, Germany, Greece and Finland, but also the Indian sub-continent and the distant Pacific.

The testing, carried out by AncestryDNA, revealed the average Bledington resident is actually only 42 per cent “British” or Anglo Saxon in genetic terms.

Marketing manager Kristen Turner, 48, said she found it “rather exciting” to find out that her DNA was seven per cent South Asian. Others had genes from places as far-flung as the Pacific islands of Melanesia.

Some were found to be as little as three per cent “British”.

Sue Windsor, 73, found out she does not have any local DNA from the distant past and instead her ancestors hail from western Europe and Ireland.

She said: “I was a bit surprised – I haven’t got any British in me, which I was a bit taken back by because my family has always lived in this country.”

Despite their scattered origins however, more than half those tested discovered previously unknown genetic connections with other residents of Bledington, near Stow-on-the-Wold.

Village historian Sylvia Reeves, 93, and parish councillor Steve Tyack, 46, were pleased to find out they were distant cousins.

Mrs Reeves said: “I’ve been here in Bledington for 56 years and I’ve known Steve’s family ever since I have been here.

“I even watched his parents courting, so to find out we are related is amazing.

“I would never have dreamt it, especially because Stephen is rooted round here whereas I came to Bledington by chance after being born in London.”

Mr Tyack, a builder, said: “Of everybody in the village, I’m really happy to be related to Sylvia.

“This whole experience has been wonderful – a real opportunity. It’s really brought the community spirit back to Bledington.”

Six further villagers also found previously unknown DNA matches living in the village, identified as fourth cousins or closer.

The experiment is thought to be the first of its kind to test the DNA of a community of people in a concentrated area.

It was carried out using saliva samples from nearly 120 residents ranging in age from 19 to 93.

AncestryDNA spokesman Russell James said: “Despite the majority of residents assuming they were British through and through, this fascinating process uncovered some incredibly diverse heritage.”