City seeks accolade for its buried secrets

But the vast majority of visitors would be shocked to learn it has never been designated as a World Heritage site – a status that is afforded to only the most beautiful and historic locations across the globe.

York Council is now, however, pushing ahead with plans to secure the status which would see the city join the ranks of other unique locations including the Taj Mahal, the city of Cairo, the Great Wall of China and Yosemite National Park in California.

Its official bid, which is being submitted to the Government today, is centred, perhaps surprisingly, not on the city's famous landmarks, such as York Minster, Clifford's Tower and the medieval Bar Walls, but on what cannot actually be seen.

York's renowned archaeology is being used as the backbone of the bid, which has been drawn up over the past four years, after much of the city's past remains hidden from view.

The York Archaeological Trust has conducted more than 1,000 excavations since it was formed in 1972 – but just two per cent of the city's archaeology has so far been uncovered.

If World Heritage status is eventually granted by Unesco, the organisation ultimately responsible for approving the list, York will become the only one of the 834 sites that has secured the title for what is buried underground.

York Council's archaeologist John Oxley, who has helped compile the city's entry, said: "If we get the status, it puts us in the premier league.

"In the past York has never made a case for World Heritage status. This time we have made the case and it is down to the judging panel. But whatever happens we believe we have a world class city here in York."

The city's archaeology hit the headlines again this week after it was revealed that part of the world's best-preserved Roman gladiator graveyard is thought to have been uncovered in The Mount. While the decapitated remains of 80 men were discovered in 2004, it is only now that the gruesome bite marks inflicted by a lion, tiger or bear have been revealed by experts.

The formal bid has been prepared by the council in partnership with the York World Heritage Steering Group, which has drawn up the boundary of the proposed World Heritage site.

It would coincide with the city's central historic core conservation area but could be extended to include important archaeological locations at Hungate, St George's Fields and in Holgate.

It is hoped that by obtaining the status, York's profile as a prime tourism destination will be raised even more, bringing major economic benefits to the city. York's tourism industry currently attracts more than seven million visitors every year, who spend 443m in the local economy.

The idea for an official bid was first mooted by former Lord Mayor of York Janet Hopton during her year in office which ended in 2007.

She said: "Gradually over the years more and more is being revealed of what lies beneath our modern city – an ever-unfolding story. In archaeological terms, we are sitting on a gold mine."

The UK currently has 28 World Heritage sites, including Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, and Saltaire, near Shipley, in West Yorkshire.

Other locations include Stonehenge, Canterbury Cathedral, Hadrian's Wall, Edinburgh and Bath.

It is expected there will be fewer than 20 locations vying to make a shortlist which will be announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport next year, before applications are made to UNESCO.

Among the others thought to be submitting bids are Blackpool, the Lake

District, Stoke-on-Trent, the Forth Bridge and Arbroath Abbey in Scotland.

Two thousand years of history

Ever since a Roman fortress was founded in AD71, York has been a cultural, political and economic centre in the North of England.

The city has been constantly inhabited for 2,000 years.

After the Roman era, the Vikings arrived in 866, and the construction of York Castle was overseen two centuries later by William of Normandy in 1068.

York became an independent city with its own charter in 1212, and eight years later work began on the Minster – the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe.

During the intervening centuries, York has figured in some of the defining moments of the nation's history – Charles I and his court sought refuge in the city in 1642 before the start of the Civil

War.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the largest railway station in the world at the time opened in York in 1877.