A treasure trove of Naval heritage is being moved to Portsmouth with the transfer of the Naval Historical Branch from London next year.

Among the items in the collection is Captain Cook's original chart of Newfoundland – one of more than 100,000 items which will be located in the Naval Base.

The Naval Historical Branch has outgrown its current home at Great Scotland Yard, just off Whitehall, and will move into the ground floor of No. 24 Store, an 18th Century Grade Two listed storehouse in the heart of the base.

As well as books and documents from London, the new premises will house items from a subsidiary branch collection at the Hydrographic Office in Taunton.

The new 10,000sq ft complex will include a specially-vented repository to help protect archived material, offices, and a reading room available to the public by appointment.

Jock Gardner, one of four historians among the Branch's ten staff, said: "The move to Portsmouth will allow the branch to operate more effectively. And the new air-treatment system will mean the material will have the greatest chance of surviving for the greatest length of time."

The Branch was formed in 1903 to provide historical advice to the Royal Navy, Ministry of Defence and other Government departments, academics and Parliament. Although it does not determine policy, it advises on historical precedent.

"We are the Navy and MoD's corporate memory, and moving to Portsmouth will ensure we can fulfil that role for many more years to come," said Mr Gardner.

Advising the media has also become a feature of the Branch's work – staff have recently assisted documentary makers at the BBC and Channel 4, and helped producers of the Making Waves drama series which will be broadcast by ITV in the New Year.

About half of the items on the move are from the Admiralty Library, which forms part of the Branch. They include documents on naval history, policy, doctrine, tactics, operations and aviation, plus parliamentary reports.

Some of the oldest documents to be housed in Portsmouth are those currently at Taunton. As well as Cook's Newfoundland chart, they include his first edition of his Voyages annotated by William Bligh, and atlases by Ortelius, Ptolemy, Steele and Mercator.

Among the odder items are references to the Navy's attempt to train seagulls to defecate on enemy periscopes, reports on the difficulties of landing camels from ships and the amount of nitro-glycerine capable of being extracted from lard.

Eight of the ten staff in London will transfer to Portsmouth, and two staff will be recruited to retain the complement.

Havant-based construction firm Henry Jones has won the £1.4m contract to create the facility, which is due for completion next July.