Books of Hours were personal prayer books that were popular in England from the 13th century until the Reformation and earned the name ‘Book of Hours’ from the short services to the Virgin Mary which were read at eight fixed hours during the day. They also contained a calendar of church festivals, psalms, favourite saints and services for the dead. The earliest of Hever Castle’s Books of Hours was handwritten on vellum in Bruges, c.1450, and bears the poignant inscription Le temps viendra (The time will come), Je Anne Boleyn.