The quintessentially English village that’s not very English at all!
Locals have DNA from 18 different parts of world
WITH its wisteria-covered, honeycoloured stone cottages, it is hard to imagine anywhere as quintessentially english as the Cotswold village of Bledington.
so you can imagine how surprised the residents were to discover that they are not very english at all – but instead have DNA from 18 different parts of the world.
Although the last census lists the community as 95 per cent white British, a study has found that Bledington is actually a hotbed of diversity.
In fact, the average villager’s DNA is just 42 per cent British. One resident learned she is 7 per cent Asian Indian, while others had genes from places as far away as the Pacific islands of Melanesia. some were found to be as little as 3 per cent British.
As well as this, more than half of the villagers discovered they were related to their neighbours – including two close friends who turned out to be cousins.
The study, carried out in March by genealogy company Ancestry, is the first to examine the genetic make-up of an entire village community.
Ancestry said the Gloucestershire village was selected for its size, scenic Cotswolds location and community spirit.
samples of saliva were taken from 120 residents, whose ages ranged from 19 to 93 and participants included everyone from the pub landlord to a local farmer.
Researchers analysed the genome of every villager, matching it to a vast database of DNA samples from over 700,000 locations across the globe.
Although more than half of locals didn’t expect to find results from outside the UK, the study found that nobody in the
‘World feels like a smaller place’
picturesque village was 100 per cent Anglo-saxon. Kristen Turner, 48, a marketing manager, was told she is 7 per cent Asian-Indian, making her the most genetically diverse participant.
she said: ‘It’s rather exciting to think I have something in common with people in Asia and India and it does make the world feel like a smaller place.
‘I’m quite excited to be able to find out where that comes from in my ancestry and perhaps try and find out where they originated from, what their story was and how it joined my line.’
And Guy Chittenden, 24, a consultant, discovered he is just 3 per cent British. His genes were 75 per cent western european, 12 per cent Irish and 7 per cent scandinavian. He said he was ‘ shocked’ by the results, adding: ‘Perhaps I’m a love child.’
Andrew Packe, 66, who has lived in the village for more than three decades, had DNA that was 12 per cent scandinavian.
He also discovered 46 genetic connections after taking the test, including neighbour Camilla, who turned out to be a third cousin. He said: ‘It’s not every day you get a new relative so close by.’
Meanwhile, local historian sylvia Reeves, 93, was amazed to discover she is related to the son of a close family friend.
Mrs Reeves and builder steve Tyack, 46, had DNA which proved they share an ancestor four generations ago, meaning they are distant cousins.
‘I’ve been here in Bledington for 56 years and I’ve known steve’s family ever since,’ Mrs Reeves said. ‘I would never have dreamt it especially because steve is rooted round here whereas I came to Bledington by chance.’
Mr Tyack said: ‘This whole experience has been wonderful, a real opportunity. It’s really brought the community spirit back to Bledington.’
six other locals were found to have surprising DNA matches to other Bledington residents, identified as fourth cousins or closer. some 59 residents had distant cousins in the village.
Bledington, 22 miles east of Cheltenham, has a population of around 500. It has won village of the year awards in 2004 and 2012 for the closeness of its community.