Explosion!, the museum of Naval firepower at Gosport in Hampshire, has released details of a new gallery studying the victualling operations of the Royal Navy of old which is due to open next summer.

Old Bill’s Locker, part of the SeaBritain 2005 celebrations, will focus on the old Royal Clarence Yard, currently being turned into a housing and leisure development now it is no longer needed by the Senior Service, and its role in food: how it was produced, and how the Navy was kept fed and free of disease.

The new gallery will be located in the former Education Centre on the 19th century camber dock, with its views across the harbour to HMS Victory.

The centrepiece of the gallery will be a three-quarter view full-scale model of a transport hoy, a reproduction of the Foreman’s Office, and the quayside along which the boat will be moored.

As part of the new gallery, which tells the story of the architecture through a specially-commissioned film, visitors to the Priddy’s Hard museum will learn about the brewery, cooperage, granary, slaughterhouse and the bakery, which featured huge ovens and steam-powered bread-making machinery.

The gallery will also highlight how food was prepared and stored in the early 1700s, and the health problems that were rife in the days of the sailing ship, including scurvy, malnutrition and food parasites.

Planned interactive elements include a pumping device, a weevil touch discovery box and a film of fruit rotting over time.

As part of the overhaul at Priddy’s Hard, funded in collaboration with Berkeley Homes, a formerly unused building on the site is being turned into the new education centre and some of the ground is being landscaped to allow access to a Victorian explosives vault.

More details on the gallery and other 2005 events can be found at www.explosion.org.uk or by calling 023 9250 5600.