A LONG-LOST garden bordering one of Durham City's best-loved landmarks may be about to be restored to its original eighteenth century splendour as the region's latest tourist attraction.

For centuries, the fabulous terraced gardens, which swept down from the walls of Durham Castle to the banks of the River Wear, were famed throughout the country and attracted well-to-do visitors to the city, yet are now overgrown and forgotten and used only by a handful of walkers and fishermen.

The city council is to co-ordinate a bid for £6m of Heritage Lottery cash to restore the site to its former glory and create a tourist attraction to rival the famous Alnwick Gardens.

Set within the secret gardens, which cover more than five hectares of the riverbank below the famous view of the cathedral, is the Little Count's House, an eighteenth century folly, which sits at the end of South Bailey, said to be the home of Polish-born dwarf and celebrated musician Joseph Boruwlaski.

The Grade II listed building is to be transformed into a visitor and tourist information centre that will mark the entrance to the gardens.

The Little Count is one of the most famous figures in Durham's 1,000-year history.

He travelled extensively through Europe and finally settled in Durham City, where he lived to the age of 97, developing a reputation as a wit, a talented violinist and something of a ladies' man.

A survey, carried out as part of the Lottery bid, has discovered that the overgrowth also hides four eighteenth century thermally-designed ice houses, a marvel of their age, where ice from the frozen River Wear would be stored throughout the year to make refrigerators for the gentry living in the townhouses above. The food would be kept cool to supply many society parties.

The structures, one of which is believed to resemble an Ancient Egyptian tomb, will be restored as part of the five-year project and opened up to public.

A recent flora and fauna survey has revealed a number of exotic specimens, gathered from around the world, still thriving among more native species.

The ambitious project will also shore up the crumbling cliff face, which supports the ancient city walls, and remove some of the existing trees to restore the original views of the cathedral.

A series of terraced woodland walkways will be restored and a section of the formal gardens will be recreated where admission would be charged to visitors.

The Lottery bid is the culmination of a seven-year project initiated by Texan-born Lois Stuckenbruck, alumni secretary of St John's College, Durham.

She said: "It was a romantic garden laid out by the wealthy, aristocratic families who lived in Durham at the time.

"By the eighteenth century, it was the place to be and be seen. By that time, to have a townhouse in Durham, particularly on the Bailey, was the height of fashion and the gardens were central to it.

"This project will open up and restore a lost asset and a lost treasure to the city, it is a beautiful parkland which right now is inaccessible to everyone."

So neglected have the gardens become as modern landowners struggle to pay for their upkeep that even the old city walls, which ring the Peninsula behind South Bailey, are now hidden from view.

Several landowners and other organisations have come together to support the project, including the university and its colleges, the Cathedral and the city and county councils. But some backers fear that erosion on the hillside and the disrepair of retaining walls further down the slopes threatens to undermine the city walls themselves, parts of which date back to the twelfth century.

During the sixteenth century, work began carving the cliffs that protected the approach to the great Norman fortress into terraced gardens for the gentry, who lived in the houses of South Bailey - now home to several of the university's colleges.

Among the best known were the Bowes-Lyons family, ancestors of the late Queen Mother, whose townhouse is now the headquarters of St John's College.

Over the next 300 years, the area below the city walls was laid out with terraced woodland walks, formal gardens, carefully-arranged views across the river and garden follies, where guests of the city's society families would exercise.

So famed were the genteel gardens, at least one romantic novel was set among its terraces, although only one illustration, an eighteenth century engraving of the city skyline, which clearly shows the neat gardens on the slopes beneath the cathedral, survives.

The Lottery application, which will be processed by the city council, coincides with a drive by a number of groups to help Durham City shed its 'beautiful, but dull' image and attract more visitors to the city, one of the country's few World Heritage sites.

The tourist economy is currently worth about £100m a year to the city centre.

City council leader Fraser Reynolds said: "It is a very exciting proposal.

"For some time we have been looking for something extra to complement the Castle and Cathedral that will encourage visitors to come to Durham and stay longer while they are here. The gardens at Alnwick complement the castle there and we are hoping for a similar effect here."

Ms Stuckenbruck said: "The project is about preserving our heritage -- preserving the structure of the landscape, preserving the ice houses and preserving the castle walls themselves."

A decision on the Lottery application is expected early next year and, if successful, work on the five-year restoration project is scheduled to start later next year