The purchase of this land could well have been circa 1570, if we take this text from the "History of the County of Essex - Colchester"

Thomas Love, by will dated 1565, gave to Thomas Rich £120 to buy land to provide a yearly rent of £6 for the poor of Lexden and 11 other parishes, and Rich, by will dated 1570, endowed the charity with land in Lexden.

The distribution of the rent from this land amounted to £14. 6s 2d per parish which took place at Shrovetide. (Today we know Shrovetide as Shrove Tuesday or the first day of Lent)

From County records, we know the income from the land was £6 in 1626, £12 in 1676, £24 in 1786, and £30 in 1828 until 1842

Lexden's share was usually distributed in bread with Swinnerton's charity.

Essex County Records Document:- D/DU 870/2 Deeds of lands
Dates of Creation 1779-1908

Comprising Lexden Park in Lexden: , West on lands belonging to Loves Charity and East on lands of Colchester Corporation;
2 parcels called Fowles lands or new field on North side of highway from Colchester to Lexden Street (8 acres and 6 acres); 2 further parcels on North side of said high road called Loves Land, abutting Holly Lodge (London Rd, Lexden);

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22020&strquery=love The lands may have been on Lexden Heath which was annexed (bought!) in 1820/1 by the multiple landowners of Lexden, G R Errington and J Papillon, when common land in the area was enclosed in great quantity. Between them they acquired over 2,000 acres of land. Lexden Heath was a large area of common land used for grazing, horse races and military camps; it was enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1821. This enlarged the estate of the Lord of the Manor, the Reverend John Rawstorn Papillon, who was an acquaintance of Jane Austen and whose niece married Jane's brother Henry. Straight Road was created at this time to make a way across the new enclosure's to the hamlet of Shrub End, which became a separate parish in 1845 Courtesy of the Lexden History Group

In the above references it mentions "bounded on the North by the Road leading from Colchester to Lexden" This would be the road indicated in blue on the above map Lexden Heath area centered on the junction with Straight Rd and London Rd. Heath Road still exists today, but Heath Farm long sinced demolished for housing Lexden Park is situated around the Church Lane area of Colchester In essence there was not one parcel of land but two or more.

(a) Quote:- This legacy laid out in the purchase of about 26 acres of land in Lexden, close to the town of Colchester,
Let for £30 a year from 1828 to 1842; but now greatly increased in value being in great demand for building purposes.

(b) In Whites Directory, the charity is listed in all 12 parishes dated 1848.

(c) Straight Road was created at this time to make a way across the new enclosure's to the Hamlet of Shrub End, which became
a separate parish in 1845.

I think we can safely say the land was sold between 1842 and 1848, perhaps even earlier ( 1842 - 1845) as Straight Road was constructed in 1845

Colchester town was expanding and now extending out to the new suburbs of Shrub End and Bottle End ( South of Lexden).
Consequently, land around Lexden in the early 1880`s was now in high demand and the value rapidly increased.
Like todays land speculators, it was now an ideal time to sell and take a profit from the original £120 invested

When the land was sold in the mid 1800`s, the sum raised was £5926.17.9d, which was subsequently invested in 3 per Cent Consolidated Bonds.

This money was divided up and shared out amongst the 12 parishes.
Speculation:- each parish received nearly £600 to be invested in the Consolidated Bonds, each having their own "Loves Charity with a local Board of Trustees"

In 1992, the Mount Bures parish share of the charity was £13, distributed amongst the elderly pensioners not owning their own home.

It was left to particular parishes to decide how the yearly donation was to be distributed.
Great Horkesley distributed the fundsi n 1990 to those parishioners, again not owning their own homes to 11 people at £5 each
The share belonging to Aldham was shared among the poor parishioners in 1830 at £2.10 each
Subsequent years it was distributed as bread and blankets
Little Horkesley distributed £7 in 1864 and £50 in 1992

Local "Love Charities" were not obliged to keep the money in these Bonds, but use their own discretion to obtain the best interest rate.

Typically Easy Access investments during 2011 - 2014 only realised around a 1% interest rate
One parish has only £140 in the fund, so at 1% interest, that is only achieving an addition of £1.40 year.
I suspect this is why most of the parishes have seen their capital diminish to such an unsustainable level.

By 2014, most parishes were considering winding up the Charity

The original money was invested at some time in the history of this charity, in government bonds. These were subsequently, in more modern
times, cashed in and the money raised, invested in a Trustees Savings Bank account and later this was transferred to a Post Office Savings account.

This is an extract from the records the Trustees hold, which date back to 1938.
The first entry in the record of 1938 was to give 34 gifts of eight shillings and one of £1 to recipients who were deemed as in need at Christmas.
The total given at this time was therefore just £14, 12shillings.

Subsequently, in 1939 this was repeated to 36 recipients.

Later, in 1957, 23 gifts of 10 Shillings were given.
In 1966 21 gifts of £1, 10shillings were given.
In 1971 28 gifts of £1.50p were given.
In 1977 24 gifts of £2 were given.
In 1982 12 gifts of £5 were given.
In 1988 11 gifts of £5 were given.
In 1993 11 gifts of £5 were given.
In 1999 7 gifts of £5 were given.
In 2003 6 gifts of £5 were given.
It can be seen that as the value of money increase, proportionately the number of recipients diminishes.

Acknowledgment to Brian Drury, Trustee at Gt Horkesley for kindly donating this information