There are still fifteen active lighthouses along the Dutch coast. The vuurtoren J.C.J. van Speijk (J.C.J. van Speijk lighthouse) in Egmond is one of the oldest active lighthouses. The treacherous sea near Egmond necessitated the construction of two lighthouses: a northern and a southern tower. Work started in 1833 and one year later the construction was completed, lightkeepers were appointed and the light was lit.

In 1834 the northern tower at Egmond aan Zee was chosen as the J.C.J. van Speijkmonument, in honour of Lieutenant Commander “Jan Carel Josephus van Speijk”, who was a gunboat commander at the time of the Belgian uprising. Van Speijk achieved eternal fame by sacrificing himself and blowing up his boat to prevent it from falling into enemy hands during the Belgian uprising. In addition to Van Speijk, twenty-five other crew members were killed.

The lighthouse was equipped with a rotating light in 1891. The light in the southern tower was deactivated in the same year and finally demolished in 1915. To warn ships of dangerous shallows on the northern side of Egmond, the northern side of the light is red. The light turns white again when the ships are out of the danger zone.

The lighthouse “J.C.J. van Speijk” is a national monument and still shines its light over Egmond aan Zee and the North Sea every evening. It is built of brick and subsequently plastered in white. The tower has a height of 28 meters; the focal height is 37 meters. The range of the white light is 18 nautical miles and for the red one 14 nautical miles.