This thistle-like thingy looks like an alien spacecraft. The plant is well over 6 feet tall and the flower heads are like 5 inches each (there's 6 or 8 of them on there). That's Pickering Barn in the background.
I asked Kate The Botanist what this was and she says:
The thistle-like thingy is called teasel, Dipsacus sylvestris. Another common name is gypsy comb. This is the thing you see (or used to) some crafty ladies spray silver or gold and use in flower arrangements or Christmas doo-dads.