Updated 21/08/14
Excuse the poor quality photograph (above), but I only had my phone available and I could not get the autofocus to acknowledge that the spider was the subject of the photograph, not the vegetation in the background. This is the biggest spider I have seen in my garden in the time I have been here. I know very little about identifying spiders but I am going to plump for this being a European Garden Spider as it looks most like the picture from the Wild About Britain website. 
Like all arachnids, the diadem spider has four pairs of legs. The third pair appears slightly shorter and it is this that it uses for spinning its web and for wrapping up any prey that it catches. The spider unravels and eats its web at night then spins a fresh one before dawn. The female spiders are larger than the males and when they mate, the male has to get away quickly if he is not to be eaten by the female. It may seem improbable that an arrangement like this would have survived evolution; how does it benefit the male spiders? Some male spiders, although not particularly those of this species, actively surrender to the female after or during mating to allow themselves to be eaten. Others, as is the case with the diadem spider, attempt to get away if they can. [Spoiler alert!] The following clip is nicely shot (there is no sound) and features a male’s unsuccessful attempt to escape from the female.
As with almost everything in biology, the answers must lie in evolution. What evolutionary advantage is there for the population of spiders that the male might be eaten by the female? What is in it for the male spider? (I put the italic emphasis in to remind you that evolution is something that happens to populations of organisms not to individuals.) Leave any thoughts you have in the comments below.
Update 21/08/14
My continued interest in the garden spiders was piqued again as I nearly walked into the thread supporting this little fella’s web. I videoed it (below) and you can see how far its base of support is from its actual web. Quite amazing I thought.
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