Thick planks; I suppose these were boards of more than ordinary thickness, which were fastened to the great beams, whose ends came out beyond the wall of the porch, and probably were laid so as to make a part of an arch over the entrance into the gate, as we see over some houses, and as sometimes under the balconies; and here also in these thicker planks, it is like, were some ornaments,
Upon or above the front
of the porch.
Without; on the court-side of the porch, that part that looked outward.