Trevor Rowley was a postgraduate student under the landscape historian W. G. Hoskins at Oxford University.
During this time he was responsible for several initiatives, including collaboration with the Open University on award-bearing courses, which eventually led to the department offering the part-time postgraduate degrees, the first part-time qualification provided by Oxford University.
For many years he was a guest lecturer for Swan Hellenic Cruises and Voyages to Antiquity.
He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1973 and between 1976 and 1979 he was Honorary Secretary of the Council for British Archaeology.
His current research work is on Norman landscapes and Edgar the Ætheling, the fourth 'king' of England in 1066.