Henry VIII closed the friaries in Newcastle in 1539 and in 1540 he also closed the nunnery. However, Henry also founded a grammar school in Newcastle which was incorporated in 1600.
In the 16th Century exports of coal boomed and it overtook wool as the town's main export. It is estimated that in 1500 about 15,000 tons of coal were exported from Newcastle each year. By the mid 17th Century that had soared to around 400,000 tons a year.
Now by 1600 the population of Newcastle upon Tyne had risen to about 10,000 and by the standards of the time it was a large and important town. In 1635 a writer called Newcastle 'the fairest and richest ton in England inferior for wealth and building to no city save London and Bristol'.
Civil war between King and Parliament came in 1642 and Newcastle sided with the King but in 1644 a parliamentary army laid siege to the town. Newcastle surrendered in October 1644.
In the late 17th Century coal exports continued to boon and so did the shipbuilding industry in Newcastle. Rope making also flourished. Lime was made in kilns for fertilizer. Salt was made from seawater. The water was heated in pans to evaporate it and leave behind a residue of salt. From the later 17th Century there was a glass making industry in Newcastle and by the early 18th Century there was also an iron and steel industry. Another industry in Newcastle was clay pipe making.
At the end of the 17th Century the travel writer Celia Fiennes described Newcastle upon Tyne as a noble town. She said it resembled London more than any other town in England. The streets were broad and the buildings were tall and made of brick or stone.