A Test Valley craftsman has been awarded a prestigious national prize.

Violin-maker, Christoph Götting, 63, was named the inaugural winner of the The Balvenie Masters of Craft, at a ceremony at the Connaught Hotel, Mayfair, on Wednesday night.

Christoph, who makes violins by hand in his converted granary in Church Road, Michelmersh, beat metal workers, glass blowers, shoe-makers and jewellers from across the UK, to take the title.

German-born Christoph produces just a handful of violins each year with the help of his assistant, Bernd Bellinger. Each instrument involves 140 hours’ work.

More than 70 original Götting violins are now owned by professional musicians from around the world.

Despite such global recognition, Christoph was surprised to win the award. “It’s always a shock to win something like this and I really wasn’t expecting it,” he said.

“It was a fantastic night – a really memorable occasion and it’s such an honour to become the first winner of the award.

“Hopefully, it will be a big help in promoting what I do, because I am upping production levels now to produce about 10 violins a year, when I was previously focusing on research and only making four or five.”

Christoph, who studied violin making in Mittenwald, Germany, came to London in 1969. He worked at Beares workshop ,restoring antique instruments for 21 years, before opening his own workshop in 1990.

The craftsman says he is enjoying his work as much as ever.

“I’ve always been so enthusiastic about my job, because I’ve always had a great love for classical music,” he added.

“And now I’m at a stage where I am really happy with my products and have had praise from musicians around the world. That’s always great to hear, so I hope I can continue to build on that and on this award in the future.”