Tributes paid as Wroxeter villa designer dies aged 73

Professor Dai Morgan Evans also made his mark interpreting English and Welsh landscapes of England and Wales.

David 'Dai' Morgan Evans was visiting professor of archaeology at the University of Chester since his retirement in 2004 and was perhaps best known outside the field of archaeology for his television work on the Channel 4 television series, Rome Wasn't Built in a Day.

He designed the Roman villa on behalf of English Heritage, advising 21st century builders on how to construct it using classical techniques.

Subsequently, through the villa's opening to the public in February 2011, the structure in Wroxeter has remained a key element of the ancient site's heritage interpretation.

Professor Dai Morgan, who died on St David's Day, March 1, was an expert on the Pillar of Eliseg, which stands near Valle Crucis Abbey, near Llangollen.

With colleagues at the University of Chester and Bangor University, he helped initiate Project Eliseg, an archaeological research project aimed at discovering more about the multi-period monument. Professor Howard Williams, professor of archaeology at the University of Chester, said: "Professor Dai Morgan Evans was the very best of academic friends to me.

"Dai will be sadly missed by current and former staff and students of the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Chester and many more in the world of British archaeology." Born in 1944, Dai had ties with Chester and its archaeology since childhood. He was a Chester King's School pupil and dug with the Grosvenor Museum.

His career began studying archaeology at Cardiff and he served as assistant director of the famous South Cadbury excavations. As an inspector of ancient monuments and historic buildings, He was instrumental in bringing the Welsh Archaeological Trusts into existence.

His case work took him across Wales and England during a career based first in Cardiff and then in London. Leaving English Heritage in 1992, he became general secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of London, he then went on to become a member of the National Trust Archaeology Panel, the All Party Parliamentary Archaeology Advisory Group, and Chairman of the Buster Ancient Farm Trust in Hampshire. His extensive research career included published works addressing heritage management and conservation, the Roman and early medieval archaeology of western Britain, industrial archaeology and 18th century antiquarianism.

Professor Williams added: "Many former students who knew Dai, including those who dug with him on the 2010 season of Project Eliseg, have been in touch to express their sorrow at the news of Dai's passing."

Professor of Archaeology, Meggen Gondek, head of the department of history and archaeology at the University of Chester added: "I remember Dai as a devoted scholar and educator with an unbounded enthusiasm for archaeology and heritage. All former archaeology staff who knew Dai have expressed their sincere condolences and shared their warm memories of Dai as a teacher and colleague."

Professor Evans died on March 1, St David's Day.