These are the ten museum and gallery projects selected by our judges to form the long list for the 2006 Prize:

Cambridge & County Folk Museum The museum, an independent charity established in 1936, aims to communicate the history and way of life of the people of Cambridge and its neighbourhood. 2005 saw the completion of a project to redevelop and extend the museum which has succeeded in retaining the time-honoured feel of the displays and the intimacy of the building whilst making the museum more accessible to a 21st century public.

Dorchester Abbey Museum, Oxfordshire: The Cloister Gallery Dorchester Abbey is one of the largest churches in Oxfordshire. A continuing programme of major refurbishment of the Abbey has included the construction of the Cloister Gallery to house its collection of carved medieval stones. The creation of the Gallery, which has won praise for the quality of its design and interpretation, was led by the voluntary Dorchester Abbey Museum.

Hunterian Museum, Royal College of Surgeons, London Renewing any venerable museum is a task to be tackled with trepidation, especially if it contains Britain’s only publicly-accessible collection of anatomical and pathological preparations. Yet the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, one of the oldest and most important medical collections in the world, has done so brilliantly. With collections that span medicine, natural history and the arts over 200 years, it has become far more than just a specialist surgical museum.

Museum of Flight, East Fortune, near Edinburgh: The Concorde Experience This exciting new exhibition at the Museum of Flight offers visitors the chance to see the world’s most iconic aircraft up close. It tells the story of Concorde through the lives of those privileged enough to have worked and travelled on her. Visitors can experience the lives of celebrities and step on board to see where rock stars and royalty would have sipped champagne while flying faster than the speed of sound.

National Waterfront Museum, Swansea Located in the heart of Swansea’s regenerated Maritime Quarter, the new National Waterfront Museum provides an insight into the impacts of industrialisation and maritime trading on the people of Wales and beyond. A £33 million joint development between the National Museums and Galleries of Wales and the City and County of Swansea, the Museum aims to explain industrial history from the 18th century to the present day in human rather than technical terms, providing visitors with insights into the past, present and future of Wales.

Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, Great Missenden This new museum, opened in June 2005, aims to inspire a love of stories in everyone through the life and work of Roald Dahl. At the heart of the project is the Roald Dahl archive, which contains almost everything that he ever wrote, from ideas books and first drafts to finished typescripts and proofs. However, the displays, learning programme and other activities such as the Writer in Residence scheme make the venue much more than a traditional literary archive.

The Collection: Art and Archaeology in Lincolnshire The Collection is Lincoln’s new state-of-the-art £12.5m museum, the product of over 10 years of planning and community lobbying. Visitors are now able to enjoy a wealth of treasures from the Museum’s nationally-important archaeological collections, alongside those of the county’s premier art gallery, and a vibrant programme of changing contemporary art shows.

Brunel's SS Great Britain, Bristol Brunel’s SS Great Britain is one of the UK’s most significant historic ships. Built in Bristol in 1843 and described as the great-grandmother of virtually every ship afloat today, she was the world’s first screw-propelled, iron-built passenger liner. 2005 saw the completion of a project which provides a unique long-term solution to the conservation of the fabric of the ship, while restoring and interpreting her interior spaces to convey the stories of those who travelled and worked on board.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, nr Wakefield: The Underground Gallery Yorkshire Sculpture Park is widely recognised as one of the best sites in the world to see contemporary sculpture in the open air. Its new Underground Gallery builds on this reputation and extends the scope and range of media it can show. At over 600m², it is one of the largest purpose-built galleries to have been constructed in Britain in a number of years, yet has been sensitively and elegantly incorporated into an historic landscape.

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