Devil's-Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) flowers in grassland from late summer into autumn. Said to be a plant that needs moist soil but I see S. pratensis growing on calcareous soils in places like the South Downs and Knocking Hoe which are free draining and dry. Generally on sloping ground so perhaps they get the benefit of rainfall as it drains downhill?

 Various sources note the common name comes from archaic folklore that the roots are short because the devil bit them off. Hard to imagine this would become the common parlance but common names of plants are frequently obscure and curious.