I hope this is a quick and easy question. Before Duke William invaded England, he resided at Château de Falaise from my understanding. The current structure originates from the early twelfth century, with added towers, etc. My question is, when William occupied the castle, say around 1050, what kind of construction would have been used? Would it have been a purely wooden structure, ala the motte and bailey design imported to England, stone construction, or some mix of the two? Thanks for any imput you can give me. The location is figuring into a comic I am working on about Harold Godwinson and I am making it a goal to be as historically accurate as possible.
According a quick research, the Château de Falaise, Normandie, France (Château de Guillaume-le-Conquérant / William The Conqueror's Castle) is a castle that is supposed to be one of the first normand stone castle. The Carbon 14 study says that the walls were build between 960 and 1020 by either Richard Ier or most likely by his son Richard II de Normandie.
The castle seems to have been build in "arête-de-poisson" which would provide better walls (holds better), and better drainage. However that's an old way of doing things, from the Romans. Then the first major upgrade of the castle determinated by the different donjons. The first one is inaugurated in 1123 by the fourth son of William/Guillaume (Henri Ier de Beauclerc) in an Anglo-Normand style (like the Tower of London) and named the Big Donjon (Grand Donjon) The second one is the Small Donjon (Petit Donjon) by Henri II Plantagenêt before Christmas 1159 (we know he spent Christmas there with the magnificence Aliénor d'Aquitaine). It seems to be mostly habitation, smaller and more modest. The third one has been made by Philippe August King of France in the XIII century. It's a defensive tower also named Talbot Tower (Tour Talbot).
From what I understand, at the time of Willy, it wasn't a state of art donjon, but still a donjon with stone walls. If you are making a comic, and want accuracy for drawings, I advise you to look at the castle, taking away any kind of upgrades that has been made, and look at that "arête-de-poisson" style :). Hope it helped :).