The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has named the 34 museums across England that are set to benefit from a share of £4m funding to help fund improvement schemes.

Grants have been made available through the annual DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvements Fund in conjunction with the Wolfson Foundation, which was first established in 2002 to upgrade the quality of museum displays and public spaces.

The largest share of the latest round of funding was awarded to the Bowes Museum in County Durham and Natural History Museum in London, which will both receive a grant of £300,000 to help fund construction and refurbishment projects.

HMS Belfast, part of the Imperial War Museum, has been awarded £150,000 to fund the reinterpretation of the ship's command and control centre, while the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes has also netted £150,000 to create a new Bronze Age Gallery housing material excavated from Stonehenge.

London's National Gallery (£200,000), the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge (£250,000), Exeter City Museums and Art Gallery (£200,000) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (£240,000) were also among the recipients of grant funding.

The DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund aims to provide grants for schemes that seek to improve access, displays or public spaces at English sites. However, no new funding is to be awarded in 2010-11 after the DCMS and Wolfson Foundation both agreed to review the success of the Fund since it launched.

Culture minister Barbara Follett said: "We are fortunate to have so many excellent museums and galleries in this country, with fascinating collections and dedicated staff, providing a really great visitor experience for the public.

"These grants help provide the extras that normal funding sometimes cannot reach, going towards good quality museum projects that will enhance displays and interpretation as well as showing good value for money."

Paul Ramsbotton, Wolfson Foundation executive secretary, added: "The quality of applications received was extremely high, and the projects funded will help to improve the enjoyment of this country's diverse and wonderful heritage collections."