Southampton City Council's (SCC) plans to convert the city's Grade II*-listed Magistrates Court into a museum have received a £4.6m boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The Sea City Museum scheme, which will be located in the proposed Cultural Quarter, is one of a number of UK projects to secure support from the fund, with a further six awarded first-round passes.

Under SCC's plans for the new attraction, two permanent galleries will explore Southampton's status as a 'Gateway to the World' over the last 2,000 years and the port's relationship with the ill-fated liner Titanic.

Designed by London-based architects Wilkinson Eyre, the museum is due to open to the public in 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which claimed the lives of 549 local people.

HLF chief executive Carole Souter said: "Southampton Sea City Museum will be an exciting addition to the city's cultural quarter and will remind people of its important contribution to the UK's maritime heritage."

Meanwhile, efforts to increase exhibition space at the former home of composer Benjamin Britten in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, has received a first round pass worth nearly £66,000 towards a full grant of £1.2m.

Plans for the acquisition of Bury Farm - a rare species-rich grassland habitat - have benefited from funding of £72,200 towards developing a full bid for £1.06m, while Lews Castle and Museum an Eilean on the Isle of Stornoway, Scotland, has been handed £240,000 towards its bid for £2.6m HLF funding.

Old Magnus Buildings in Newark, Nottinghamshire (initial support of£203,700 towards a £2.8m grant); The Wessex Gallery in Salisbury (initial support of £87,400 towards a £1.6m grant); and a nationwide project involving national and regional film archives (initial support of £40,000 towards a £1.65m grant) have also netted first-round passes.

Souter added: "Heritage is something to be celebrated: it touches all our lives, on a daily basis, and we must remember that it needs to be conserved and treasured so that those who come after us can also enjoy it."

Image: How Southampton's new Sea City Museum will look