FOUR Oxford museums have been given a cash injection of £270,000 to pay for new exhibitions.

The Ashmolean, the Pitt Rivers, the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of the History of Science were boosted by the Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund.

They join 36 other museums in England that received a total of more than £4.6m between them, thanks to the fund.

Provided by central government and the Wolfson Foundation, the grants go to projects such as the Ashmolean’s Wellby Bequest exhibition of precious and exotic objects.

Ashmolean spokesman Claire Parris said with its £100,000 grant, it would create a dedicated gallery for the collection, opening in 2015.

The Pitt Rivers gets £64,845 for a collection on James Cook’s famous voyage, the Museum of the History of Science has £40,000 for Wall to Wall History in its special exhibitions gallery, and the Museum of Natural History gets £65,000 for its Sensing Evolution project.